Lost Memories
by Nicola19
Summary: Gaara finds a girl who had no memory of who she is. Instead of killing her he surprises every1 and himself by helping her. Now what is he supposed to do with a girl who has nowhere else to go? DISCONTINUED FOR THE MOMENT. WILL BE REWRITTEN.
1. Girl without a Memeory

Alright. Here's chapter one of my new Gaara fic. Hope you like it. I do.

Alright, I replaced the chapter because on of my reviewers pointed out that I made a lot of mistakes. (Thanks Gaaras1Girl by the way). I was going to just do better with later chapters but it didn't feel right to leave the 1st chapter all messed up. Hopefully I fixed most of my mistakes. In my defense, grammar and spelling have never been my strong point. And I'm still working out the kinks in this story. For example, I'm not even sure who Manami was...I have some ideas for that though.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...unfortunately.

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Ch. 1: Girl Without a Name**

Gaara walked through the desert. He'd only been a genin for a month, and he was already bored with his training. He actually found himself hoping that a new assassin would attack him. Then at least he could prove he was alive. Remind people that he existed. That's what he wanted...no, needed most in life. Proof of his existence and a reason to keep going.

He took in a deep breath of desert air and looked up. There was no moon tonight, so he only had the stars for company. He didn't mind. Their company was better than humans. Stars didn't glare at him or watch him with fear. He scanned the area around him, just to make sure he was really alone. He saw nothing but sand, mountains, and sky. The assassination attempts kept him from every truly relaxing. But at least for now, he could at least pretend he wasn't on Suna's wanted dead list. Out in the desert, one could almost forget everything because there was nothing. No people, no lights, no life. As if to remind him that wasn't true. He saw a snake slither out of it's burrow to find it's dinner.

Something or someone whimpered. Gaara spun around. It was coming from a cave at the base of the mountain. The monster slowly made his way over to the cave's dark entrance, wary of an attack. Gaara peered into the pitch black of the cave and could make out the walls and floors. If there was any benefit to being a Jinchuriki, it was the night vision.

Another whimper came from deep within the cave. He couldn't see the source from the entrance. Curiosity had him stepping inside and slowly making his over the stone floor and around rocks. He'd almost passed her until he heard another whimper. He looked to his left and saw her. Gaara guessed her to be about his age. It was hard to tell for sure with her huddled against the cave wall. There were trails on her face from the tears. Those trails were perhaps the only clean thing about her. The clothes she had on were no better than rags. There were bruises all over her. She was coated in dirt and dried blood. Between the lack of light and the dirt covering her, it was hard to see if she was injured or not.

Something in him softened as he examined her. She just looked so pitiful and helpless. He couldn't bring himself to harm her anymore than she already was. It'd be like kicking a puppy. And despite popular belief, he did not kick puppies. Gaara knelt a few feet in front of her and just watched her as he tried to decide what to do with her. He couldn't leave her here. Gaara wasn't sure why. He'd never had this urge to help someone before. Usually he just wanted to kill them. Maybe it was because he'd never run into someone helpless and injured before. Maybe because no one had ever looked at him with hope like she was.

Without really thinking about it, he held out his hand. She hesitated, but only for a second, before just throwing herself into him. He caught her with ease and shock. No one had ever hugged him before. Not only was she hugging him, but she was crying on him. For the first time in his life, Gaara felt panic seize him. What was he supposed to do with her? His first instinct was to shove her away but his traitorous body wouldn't obey the order. Gaara sat there as his brain seemed to just shut down. He now knew what a drowning man felt like. Finally, he remembered that others returned hugs. Could he do that? Would she let him? Most people would rather die than have him touch them. Then again, most people wouldn't have hugged him in the first place. Well, since he wasn't going to kill her, he might as well help her. He didn't know why just leaving her here wasn't an option, but it wasn't.

Slowly, as if unsure of himself and what he was doing, Gaara wrapped his arms around her. Lighting didn't strike him. That was a good sign. She burrowed into him and just cried. After what felt like hours to Gaara but was actually only a few minutes, her muscles relaxed and her body went limp. She'd cried herself to asleep. Now what? he demanded of himself. She needed a medic. Gaara sighed. He'd just have to take her to the hospital in Suna.

He picked her up carefully and summoned a sand cloud. Rather than jumping onto it like he normally would, Gaara stepped up carefully. He didn't want to wake the girl up or shake her around. She didn't even twitch. As he sped towards Suna, Gaara wondered just what in the hell he was doing? He didn't feel sorry for people. He didn't help people. He certainly didn't hug people. Yet he'd done all that in just a matter of minutes. What had gotten into him? Was he sick? Did being sick do this to people? Had he finally snapped like everyone was afraid he'd do? He kept remember the hope in the girl's eyes when she looked at him. As if she'd been asking for his help. Which was ridiculous since she hadn't said a word.

Gaara arrived in Suna and had to put the thoughts aside for now. The questions of his sanity could just wait until after the girl had been treated. Gaara made his way into the hospital and found a medic. The man nearly ran from Gaara but the jinchuriki wasn't about to let him. At his order, a sand wall form between the medic and escape. The doctor had no choice but to face the monster of Suna. Then he saw the girl in Gaara's arms.

"Fix her," Gaara ordered. He was a boy of few words and wasn't about to waste them. The medic could figure out what he meant.

The medic's eyes widened in shock and his mouth gaped open. Maybe he was hearing things but he could have sworn Gaara just ordered him to help someone. "What?"

"Heal here," Gaara repeated. His eyes narrowed a little. He might have killed the medic for making him repeat himself, but he needed him alive...for the moment.

"Okay," the medic agreed quickly. He gestured to one of the rooms. "Just take her into that room and I'll get supplies."

Gaara nodded. He walked into the room and placed her on the bed. Rather than leaving, Gaara sat in the visitor's chair. He'd wanted to be sure she okay and got home. Why that was so important to him, he wasn't sure. Those eyes flashed into his mind again.

The medic came in with bandages and antiseptics. He frowned when he saw how dirty she was. This wasn't going to work. He needed to clean her off first. With that thought in mind, the medic lifted her. A movement in the visitor's chair caught his attention. He looked up and saw Gaara standing up. The medic quickly put the girl back down. "I was just going to clean her off. The dirt is bad for her injuries." He had no idea why he was explaining himself to Gaara. Then again, he wasn't even sure why Gaara was taking such and interest in this girl's welfare. "I'll bring her right back."

Gaara sat back down and only said, "You better."

The medic swallowed and lifted her back up. When he returned, the girl was clean and wearing hospital scrubs. Gaara got his first good look at the girl he'd saved. She had a mass of curled, flame colored hair with hints of gold and brown. Her skin was pale, as if she'd rarely seen the sun. She seemed so small. Just under five feet tall and she couldn't weight much more than a hundred pounds. Her age showed in the developing curves hidden by the scrubs. Her eyes were closed so he had no idea what color they were, but he'd bet a light color like blue or green.

Gaara sat quietly as the medic tended to her. She slept through the entire thing. Gaara began to wonder if maybe she hadn't slept in a while. Lord knew he hadn't and felt like just sleeping for days sometimes.

When the medic finished, he looked at the girl with relief and then up at Gaara. The monster was looking at him now with expectation. The medic took a deep breath and said, "She only had cuts and bruises. Nothing that won't heal given time. No broke bones, or anything...forced that shouldn't have been."

Gaara nodded as he debated on going home and decided not to. He'd been here this long, so he might as well stay until she was awake. Besides. She'd be afraid if she woke alone in a strange place. Again, he had no idea why he cared. Gaara started to get the feeling he would be thinking that a lot. He hated it. He liked understanding himself and his motives. This girl was throwing all that out the window, and she wasn't even trying. Hell, she wasn't even awake and she was throwing a monkey wrench into his life. Why hadn't he just left her in that cave?

He stared out the window and watched time pass. For once, his recent shinobi training was actually useful. Baki had insisted that his team know how to be patient. He had each of them sit still for hours at a time with nothing to do. To make sure Gaara obeyed the command, he'd gone to Gaara's father, who was the only person capable of ordering Gaara to do anything. Despite his reluctance to follow the order, Gaara had to admit that patients was something every shinobi needed.

Hours passed, and the sun was just peaking over the horizon when he heard her move. He looked over and saw her eyes blink open. They weren't blue or green but some combination of the two. They remained unfocused for just few more seconds before her mind woke. She sat up quickly and scanned the room. Then she saw him and relaxed. As if seeing him was somehow reassuring. That was a new concept for him. Someone found him reassuring.

"Where am I?" she asked, well croaked. She sounded like someone with a cold.

"Suna."

She frowned. "I don't know where that is." He saw panic fill her eyes. "Actually, I don't know anything. Who am I?"

Gaara's eyes narrowed. He stood and walked to the door. The medic that treated her was still there. "Get in here," he ordered and turned back into the room.

The medic didn't hesitate to obey. Sometimes, it was a good thing to have people afraid of you. The medic smiled when he saw the girl was sitting up and awake.

"Good to see you're awake," he said as he checked her eyes with a light.

"Who are you?" she asked him.

"I'm Kai. A medical nin."

"Oh," she considered him for a moment. "Do you know who I am?"

Kai frowned. "Don't you?"

"No. The first thing I remember is seeing his eyes." The girl gestured towards Gaara. "I remember thinking, maybe he can help me."

"Is this normal?" Gaara demanded.

"No." Kai tilted his head as he considered the girl. "Do you feel any pain?"

She shook her head.

"Not even a headache?"

She hook her head again.

Kai considered the possibilities. "She could have been traumatized. Sometimes the mind protects itself by blocking memories. She could have hit her head but I didn't see any signs of that when I examined her last night." He rocked on his heels. Kai had already forgotten about Gaara. "I'll talk with my colleagues. Maybe one of them will have heard of something like this."

The girl looked between him and Gaaa. "So what happens to me now?"

The medic smiled. "You can stay here until we figure out who you are."

She looked away from him. The girl didn't want to stay in the hospital. To be honest, she'd rather stay with the red-headed boy. Her eyes moved to him with a plea she hadn't intended to be there. She didn't know that the red head couldn't bring himself to refuse her.

"No," Gaara stated. "She'll come with me."

Kai frowned. "I think she should stay in the hospital."

"I didn't ask what you think," Gaara pointed out. His voice carried the threat of death if the medic continued to question him. "Unless she'd be hurt by leaving, she comes with me."

She smiled. "I'd like that."

Kai looked at her in shock and concern. The girl obviously didn't know who she was dealing with. Someone should tell her, but he couldn't. Not with Gaara standing right there. The girl scooted off the bed and smiled up at Gaara.

The monster of Suna turned to Kai. "If you find anything or need to see her again, you'll go through me first." With that he turned and walked out.

The girl followed him without hesitation. She didn't want to think about what would happen to her. It wasn't like it would change anything. She had no memory. No name. No identity. Who was she? Was she mean and cold? Was she kind? Stubborn? Hot-tempered? She only had thousands of questions and no answers. She looked up at the boy who'd saved her.

"Who are you?" she asked him.

"Sabaku no Gaara."

"That's a mouthful," she informed him.

He actually felt like smiling. He didn't, but the urge was there. "Gaara."

"Okay." She drifted back into her thoughts.

Gaara looked at her then sighed. She needed a name. He couldn't keep calling her The Girl. There were too many girls who could answer to that. But what did he know of names? He glanced at her again. She looked so lost. What was it about this girl that pulled at him? Was it because she trusted him? Because she smelled of the sea? That thought inspired a name. Something that meant sea. He'd ignore the rest of the meaning.

"Manami."

She looked at him in confusion. "What?"

"A name. You need one. Manami."

The girl looked surprised for a second then she smiled warmly. It was as if everything was a little better now that she had a name. Some of those questions plaguing her could be answered. She was Manami. "Thank you."

No one had ever thanked him before. Gaara wasn't sure what to do now that someone had. He merely turned and continued walking. What would he do with her? He lived in his father's home so it wasn't like he could just give her a room. She'd say in his. He didn't use it anyway. His father would just have to deal with it. This time, not even the Kazekage could keep Gaara from having his way.

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That's it for now. Sorry about all the mistakes I made before. Hopefully that's all taken care of. Don't forget to let me know what you think. I'm going to work on chapter 2 now.

By the way, for those of you who are wondering, Manami is from Japanese_ (mana)_ "love, affection" combined with_ (mi)_ "beautiful" or _(mi)_ "sea, ocean". That's why the ocean thing makes him think of this name (providing the place i looked this up in was right). The parts he ignoring is love, affection, and beautiful. Just in case that wasn't clear.

Until next time


	2. A Single Discovery

Here's the second chapter. I was off to a rough start with this story but I think I've got the swing of it. And I know the title of this chapter stinks but I couldn't think of another one so it stuck. Enjoy

Disclaimer: own nothing...like you haven't heard that a thousand times.

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Ch. 2: A Single Discovery**

They walked into his house and Gaara knew immediately that the medic had told his father about the girl. He sensed his father waiting for him. Gaara debated on taking the girl...Manami – had to remember she had a name now – to his room first. That was probably a bad idea. At least until he knew how his family would react. She'd be safer with him there to keep anyone from hurting her, or kicking her out.

He paused for a moment as he realized what he'd just thought. Someone was safe with him. This girl...Manami damn it...was turning his entire world upside down and he wasn't even sure why he was letting her. Should have just left her in the cave.

Manami must have felt the tension in the house because she said in a quiet voice, "Someone isn't very happy."

Her throat still sounded rough. He needed to get her some water, but first he had to deal with his father. Gaara led her into the living room where his family waited. The Kazekage glared instantly. "What were you thinking attacking a civilian?"

Now Gaara was mildly confused. He hadn't attacked anyone in at least twelve hours. "When did I do that?"

"How else did this girl end up with you and in a hospital?" his father demanded.

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "If I had been the one to harm her, she wouldn't have lived long enough to make it to the hospital."

His father stood and walked over to face his son. "She should still be in the hospital where the medics can keep an eye on her."

"She didn't want to stay in the hospital."

"Since when do you care what other people want?" the Kazekage snapped out.

"I don't." Gaara debated on the wisdom of admitting that he did care what this girl wanted. His father wasn't exactly fond of him. "But I understand her, and that's enough."

"I want to stay with him," Manami's quiet voice put in. Gaara glanced back at her then back at his family. They were all looking at her in shock.

"Surely you know who he is, child," his father said to her.

"He said his name is Gaara," she replied easily. How could she make these people understand that Gaara was all she knew of her world now? She had no memories of family or friend or pets. All she had was a blank slate where those things should have been. All she had was him and she'd hold on to that for as long as she could. "He saved me and he's the only person I know. I want to stay with him."

"It's not his name I think you need to know," his father stated. "He's a monster."

She frowned. That couldn't be right. "Have I forgotten what a monster is too? I thought they were evil things that would hurt people."

"That is true," the Kazekage acknowledged.

"Then he's not a monster."

Even Gaara looked at her like she'd grown a second head.

"Monsters don't help people," she explained. "He helped me, so he's not a monster."

No one could think of anything to say to that. Though they did give Gaara a strange look. Gaara turned to his father and said, "She stays with me."

The Kazekage looked at the girl and saw no fear on her face. His son had obviously fooled her and she wasn't about to change her mind. At least if she stayed here he could make sure the monster didn't hurt her. He nodded. "So be it."

Gaara turned and walked towards the stairs. Manami looked at the three in the room for a moment then turned and followed Gaara upstairs. He took her to his room with the intention of it being her room now. Manami examined the room with interest. It was sparsely furnished with nothing to make it looked lived in. Actually, the only furniture was a dresser, desk with a chair, and bed. He had a balcony that over looked the crowded street below. The only thing that showed any life inside this room was an old, brown teddy bear sitting on the dresser. She walked over and picked it up. It was so cute. She smiled a little then put it back.

"Umm, excuse me, Gaara." Gaara looked over to see Temari standing at the door with a bundle of clothes in her hand. Temari explained quickly to keep Gaara from getting annoyed. "I figured she'd want something other than scrubs to wear. These are some of my old clothes that don't fit. They're about her size."

When Gaara gestured, Manami walked over and accepted the bundle. She smiled. "Thank you. Who are you?"

"I'm Temari. Gaara's older sister." Temari gave Manami a small nervous smile. "If you need anything else just let me know. I'll see if I can help."

"I will," Manami agreed.

Temari took one last looked at Gaara before leaving quickly.

Manami turned to Gaara. "Are they all afraid of you?"

"I'm a monster."

She sighed in exasperation. "Everyone's going to keep saying that, aren't they?"

Gaara didn't bother answering her. "You'll sleep in here."

"Were do you sleep?"

"I don't."

"Oh." She wasn't sure if that was healthy. He did look tired now that she thought about it. But she couldn't do anything about it.

She unfolded the clothes and looked at them. They were the same style as what Temari had been wearing. The dress was a royal blue with a white sash. There was black mesh and Temari had even brought black sandals for Manami. Manami really didn't like the sandals. Oh well. She wasn't about to complain about them. Manami considered the mesh. Why in the world would she want to wear mesh? She separated it from the rest of the clothes. The sound of the door opening had her glancing towards it. Gaara had stepped out. Probably to give her some privacy while she changed. Manami quickly put on her new clothes, but they were a little big for her.

She pulled the door open. Gaara was leaning again the wall on the other side of the hall. He stood when she came out and had to admit, she cleaned up nicely. She looked less vulnerable, but more than a little underweight. Some part of him still refused to leave her alone. Why? He didn't understand. Again her hope filled eyes flashed through his mind. Maybe it was just that. She'd wanted his help – hoped for it – though no one else ever had. Ugh, he hated this. Hated not knowing. Too late now though. He'd already begun helping her and he couldn't bring himself to stop.

Gaara made his way downstairs. He heard her quiet footsteps behind him. Remembering her throat, he made his way to the kitchen. Manami looked at the pictures on the walls as they walked by. She noted that only one picture had Gaara in it. Even then he stood apart from his family. Almost like he wasn't part of the group despite sharing their blood.

They stepped into the kitchen. Gaara pulled out a glass and offered it to her. She took it with some confusion. He gestured to the sink. Finally catching on, Manami filled it with water. She drank, letting the cool water run down her throat. Until that moment, she hadn't realized how thirsty she was. Now she noticed she wasn't only thirsty, she was starving. She filled the glass again as she tried to figure out what she wanted to eat. What was her favorite food? Did she have one? Was she allergic to anything?

"I don't know anything," she said to no one in particular. "I can't remember anything. Not even my favorite food."

Gaara wasn't sure what to say or if he should say anything. Since staying silent worked for him, he did. Gaara grabbed an apple and handed it to her. She bit into it with a moan. Nothing would ever taste this good again, she thought.

Was she starved or something? Gaara wondered as he watched her devour the apple. She reminded him of shinobi that had been rescued from torture. Or that that were being tortured here in Suna. One torture method was to starve the prisoner until they'd give anything for food of any kind. However, she was female and the medic told him she hadn't been forced by a man. Tortured females almost always were. There other things that made Gaara doubt she'd been tortured. The medic had checked her bones for breaks, and she'd had no history of any damage to her skeleton. Torture victims, male or female, always ended up with broken bones. Since torture was out that still left the question. What had happened to her?

Manami finished off the apple and smiled at him. "Thank you." Now that her throat was no longer dry, there was an almost musical quality to her voice. "I was just realizing how hungry I was."

"Can you remember anything?"

She frowned and tried. Finally, Manami shook her head. "Sorry. I can't get anything."

Gaara sighed. He was stuck with her now. "Come. I have training."

She followed him out the door. Manami wasn't sure what he was training for but she was going to follow him anyway. Maybe she'd learn something interesting about herself. Or even more interesting, something about him. They made their way through the village and everyone moved out of his path. Manami wondered why everyone was so terrified of him. What had he done to make everyone in the village fear him like this? She would have asked but he would just tell her he was a monster. That she just wouldn't believe.

"What are you training for?" she asked him finally.

"Shinobi."

Manami wondered why that word sent a chill down her spine. She dismissed it and looked at Gaara. "Why do you want to be a shinobi?"

He shrugged. To be honest, he'd never thought about it before. All his life, his father pushed him down the shinobi path, so he'd never even considered doing anything else. Gaara stopped when he saw Baki and his siblings. He really didn't want to go over there but he knew he had to. With a mental sigh, he joined them on the training grounds.

Manami stayed close behind him. Now that there were other people around, she fell silent. She noted that Gaara didn't speak either. Then again, would she talk to people who were so obviously afraid of her? She was almost sure she wouldn't. Gaara crossed his arms over his chest and waited for Baki to begin the training.

Baki didn't immediately assign tasks. Instead, he looked at Manami with a frown. "What is she doing here?"

Manami moved completely behind Gaara to escape Baki's questioning gaze. Gaara felt her pressed against his back and glared at Baki for scaring her. He didn't bother trying to figure out why that angered. Gaara had resigned himself to the strange emotions this girl brought out in him. The only reason he could come up with was 'it just did'. Lame but it was all he had.

"She stays," Gaara said without answering Baki.

"You know visitors aren't allowed during training," Baki said, still frowning.

Gaara said nothing now. He wasn't about to repeat himself for Baki. The jonin knew exactly what he wanted and Gaara would have his way. Temari stepped forward hoping to diffuse the situation. "It's alright, Baki. This is the girl I told you about."

For some reason, Manami didn't like them calling her 'the girl'. She shifted so she could see around Gaara and told them in a quiet voice, "My name is Manami."

"I thought you didn't remember anything," Kankuro said with apparent disinterest. That was mostly for Gaara. If his little brother was finally showing interest in the opposite sex, Kankuro did not want to find out that he was the jealous type.

"I don't. Gaara gave me the name." Now that she'd taken care of that, Manami moved back behind Gaara where they couldn't see her.

Baki looked at Gaara in surprise. It would seem the monster had a soft spot. Who knew? This did ease Baki's mind a bit. It had always worried him that Gaara had no ties to anyone. If this girl could weasel her way through the jinchuriki's defenses, it would go a long way towards stabilizing Gaara's mind. Despite knowing Gaara was a monster, Baki wanted Gaara to find whatever he needed in life to have peace. No one deserved it more than the boy shunned by everyone from his first breath.

"Alright. She'll have to find a place to sit while we work," Baki stated.

In response, Manami stepped back and moved to the edge of the training yard. Baki turned back to his team and began giving orders. Manami watched them fight for a while then began to doze off. The dream came before she realized what happened.

She was so hungry. She give them anything they wanted if they'd just let her eat. They weren't going to though. Not yet. First she had to suffer for defying them. Saying she was sorry wasn't enough either. They were going to make her sorry. Thunder crashed somewhere in the distance. Lighting flashed lighting a shadow of a man standing in front of her. He grinned. All she could see were red eyes. It was the monster. He was back.

Her eyes snapped open and she looked around in a panic. There weren't any storm clouds here. She was back in Suna. Gaara was training with his siblings. The man called Baki observed them and telling them how to correct their mistakes. She wasn't starving right now. It had just been a dream A very bad dream. She let out a breath. Everything was okay. Just to be sure, she looked for Gaara. He was standing on the ground with his arms crossed. His eyes were on his siblings, who were both attacking him. The sand around him moved with a life of it's own to protect him from every attack.

"See, everything is fine," she told herself.

Despite the words she didn't want to sleep anymore. Manami stood and dusted herself off. She might have gone for a walk, but she didn't want to leave without telling Gaara. Since she wasn't going to interrupt him while he trained, the walk was out. She wondered over to stand next to Baki, keeping about three feet between them. He glanced at her but said nothing. She was glad. If he complained about her being here, she might just scurry away. Was she always this cowardly? Manami shook her head. Didn't matter now. Whoever she'd been was no longer an issue. It was who she was now that mattered.

"That's enough," Baki shouted. The three genin stopped moving. Well, Gaara hadn't been moving to begin with. He just summoned the sand back into his gourd. Baki dismissed them for lunch.

"Want to join us for lunch, Manami?" Kankuro asked. "Gaara usually doesn't eat."

She looked at Kankuro. Strangers made her nervous and her stomach revolted just thinking about eating with Temari and Kankuro. She shook her head. "No, thanks anyway. I'll just stay with Gaara."

"Are you sure?" Temari gave Manami a smile. "We'd be glad to have her?"

"Suit yourself," the puppeteer said with a shrug. He and Temari walked off talking about where they would eat.

Manami turned to Gaara, who was giving her a very strange look. "What?"

"You're hungry." he stated.

"Now that you mention it, yes," she agreed.

"Why didn't you go eat then?"

Minami frowned. "Aren't you going to eat?"

He nodded.

"Then I am going to eat." She couldn't understand why he seemed so shocked that she was staying with him. Hadn't they been through this? He was the one telling everyone she was staying with him, and it wasn't like she was arguing with him. She wanted to be with him. He made her feel safe. "Why are you so surprised?"

Gaara shook his head and began walking into the village. He'd expected Manami to start distancing herself from him the moment she got the chance. Kankuro and Temari had both offered her that chance, and she'd turned them down. Gaara glanced at her. She had a small smile on her face now.

"So what are we eating?" she asked him.

He didn't want to go home right now. Actually, he never wanted to go home. Home meant facing his father and he just didn't want to deal with that. That left going out or not eating at all. Since she needed food, skipping lunch wasn't an option. He led the way to a ramen place. It was quiet and they could sit in a booth where no one would bother them.

"Do you like ramen?" he asked her.

She frowned as she tried to remember the answer to his question. "I don't know."

He ordered for both of them. If she didn't like it, he'd just get her something else. The bowls were brought to the table quickly. No one ever took their time about getting him his food no matter how busy the restaurant was. They were too afraid he would explode if he didn't get his food instantly. Sometimes it was good to have people afraid of you.

Manami took a taste of the of the ramen and smiled. "This is very good." She continued eating and said around a mouthful, "This is delicious."

"Are you feeling better?" he asked.

She smiled and nodded. "Yes. I now know that I like ramen. I wonder what I'll find out next."

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That's it for now. By the way, I have an idea of who Manami was before meeting Gaara but I'm still open for suggestions. If anyone has any input feel free to include it in the review you're about to leave me


	3. Reallizations

Finished. Nothing ot say really. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: You know what goes here so I don't have to tell you.

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Ch. 3: Realizations

_She was running. It didn't matter where she went as long as she got away. Her breath came in short pants and her heart was racing. He was behind her. She heard him crashing through the bushes and ordering her to come back. Fear gripped her with it's sharp claws, making her feel helpless. Her mind wouldn't work. All she could think was, 'I have to keep running.' She couldn't let him catch her. If he did, she'd be dead. She tripped and scrambled to get back up. He was getting closer. Her heart jumped into her throat. He was going to catch her. She looked over her shoulder and saw golden eyes looking at her with triumph. The scream bubbled up and out. Someone shook her._

"Manami, wake up."

Another scream ripped out of her.

"Manami, wake up," someone ordered her again. "You're alright. Wake up."

She knew that voice. She'd be safe if she went to it. Slowly Manami came back into the real world. Gaara was sitting next to her, holding her arms. To her surprise, she was sitting up and shaking. She wasn't sure how that happened. The door to Gaara's room burst open. The Kazekage and Gaara's siblings rushed in with weapons ready. Manami felt her cheeks burn with shame when she'd realized she'd woken everyone up. She buried her face in Gaara's shoulder.

"What happened?" the Kazekage demanded. "Did you hurt her, Gaara?"

Before Gaara could reply, Manami said, "No. Nightmare. Sorry."

The Kazekage seemed to relax a little and considered her. "I thought you didn't remember anything."

"She doesn't," Gaara snapped out in a growl. They weren't helping. She was scared and they were giving her the third degree.

His father wasn't going to let it go. "Then how can she have a nightmare?"

"I don't know," Gaara growled. "I've never had amnesia."

Temari looked at the anger in her brother's eyes and knew something bad would happen if they didn't back off. She stepped forward and touched her father's arm. "Dad, maybe we should ask later. Manami isn't in the condition to answer questions."

The Kazekage looked at her and sighed. Temari was right. He would get nothing out of the girl until she calmed down. As he walked out he said, "We'll talk to the girl in the morning."

Manami wished she had the courage to tell the Kazekage to call her by name. She kinda liked Manami and would rather hear it over 'the girl'. Having a name made her feel less confused and lost. It was something she could tell people when they asked 'who are you'. To be reduced to 'the girl' made her feel like she wasn't a person anymore. It was almost as if losing her memories took her humanity away. No. She was still herself. She was still Manami. Even if that hadn't been who she was before. It was who she was now.

"I'm sorry," she whispered when she heard the door shut. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

Gaara said nothing. He just sat there and waited for her to calm down. It wasn't like he knew how to comfort people. Even if he wanted to - which he didn't - no one wanted his comfort. He realized his hands were still on her arms. Slowly, he let her go.

Minami sat back and sniffled. "I don't know what happened. Your father was right. How can I have a nightmare when I don't remember anything."

"Your mind might remember and is just hiding it from you," he said as he stood.

"I suppose." She looked up at him. "I was running from someone. I don't know who. The only thing I called him was a monster. He was going to kill me and I don't know why." She raked the fingers of both hands through her hair. "I can't remember anything."

Gaara looked at her and realized why he felt sorry for her. She'd lost everything and didn't even know how it had happened. What must it feel like to not even know who you are? She had nothing to even begin getting answers - no name, no home, no family. Even he could answer when someone asked who he was.

"Get some sleep," he told her. He almost added that things would seem better in the morning, but stopped himself.

She nodded and settled back down. "I'm sorry, Gaara."

"For what?"

"Waking you."

"You didn't. I wasn't asleep."

That made her feel a little better. Manami started to think she'd never get back to sleep, then she yawned. Aparently the nightmare woudn't keep her from more sleep. That was a plus. She snuggled into the pillow and tried not to think about gold eyes as she fell asleep.

When she woke up, the sun was shining through the balcony door, and Gaara was no where in sight. She changed back into the blue dress Temari had given her. Manami made a mental note to ask Gaara where she could get more clothes. She had to wash the dress sometime. Maybe she could get new shoes too. She really didn't like the sandals.

Just to be sure Gaara really wasn't here, she peaked out on the balcony. Nope, no Gaara. She turned and rushed downstairs. Gaara wasn't in the living room either. She went into the kitchen and froze. Gaara's family was sitting at the table. They looked at her as one, and her breath caught in her throat. Panic seized her. They were all strangers, and she was alone with them. Why in the world did that terrify her? Manami forced herself to take a breath. She had to calm down. These people weren't a threat to her. At least, she didn't think they were. The fear jumped back up, and she took another breath. Thoughts like that were not going to help. They were not, emphasis on the not, a threat.

"Umm, I was...looking for Gaara," she managed.

"He left for a morning workout. It's his routine," Temari supplied. She didn't move and had kicked Kankuro when he tried. The wind mistress saw the panic in Manami's eyes and knew one wrong move would send their new guest running. "Why don't you sit and have some breakfast with us?"

Manami hesitated. Temari saw her struggling with her fear for a moment. A determined glint came into Manami's eyes, and she walked over to the table. "Thank you."

The Kazekage wasted not time in begining his inquiry into last night. "Tell me about your nightmare."

"I was being chased by someone," she responded, her voice was still very quiet. "I don't know who. Gaara thinks that some part of me still remembers what happened but is hiding it from the rest of me." She couldn't do this. They were making her nervous and her stomach was hurting again. Manami stood. "I'm sorry. I can't. I'm going to find Gaara."

Manami turned and ran out. She didn't stop running until her breath couldn't keep up with her anymore. Manami doubled over and gasped for air. Why? Why was she so afraid of people she didn't kow? She remember the nightmare. Okay, so maybe that was it. She couldn't remember who had attacked her, so she was afraid of everyone. The fear was a defensive thing because someone had tried to kill her and she didn't know the face. Somehow making everyone the enemy seemed irrational to her, but who said fear was rational? Look at how afraid everyon was of Gaara. She couldn't even begin to understand how that made sense.

Wich led her to another question. Why wasn't she afraid of Gaara? It wasn't like she knew him any better than she did Temari or Kankuro. Yet she wasn't afraid. Instead, she felt safe with him.

Manami stood up and looked around. Maybe she'd think better if she found Gaara. She gave a humorless chuckle. 'Yeah,' she thought sarcastically. 'I'll just find Gaara in a strange village with hundreds of people that terrify me.' She was doomed. Manami sighed and began to walk, hoping she'd accidentally find Gaara.

Gaara was just entering the village from the cliffs. He would often go up there just to be alone and think. Sometimes, like today, he would work out. Other times, he stood at the edge and just stared at the village below. Somehow, he always felt calm up there. Which was why it was _his_ spot. No one else was to be up there, ever.

He sensed her and looked up. Manami stood on the other side of the crowded street, looking lost. He didn't move. Why bother? She'd probably been told all about him by now. His father would be more than happy to tell her about Shukaku. The last thing she'd want to see is him. Gaara gave a humorless smile. Who was he kidding? She wouldn't acknowledge him. No one ever did unless he was a threat to them at that moment. Even now, people passed him on the street, and only paid enough attention to avoid contact. Most didn't even bother to look at him. The ones that did only saw a monster. Why should Manami be any different.

He watched her eyes move towards him. To his surprise, she not only saw him but smiled at him. It was then that he realized why he'd helped her in the first place. She'd seen something in him no one else had. Back in the cave, she'd looked at him and didn't look at him like he was a monster. She'd seen a person that could help her. Some part of him he thought died with Yashamaru, had surged back to life when she'd looked at him that first time. That same part yearned to give her what she'd seen. It had wanted to be the person to help her simply because she believed he would. She'd been the first person who ever thought he could or would help.

"Thank goodness I found you," she said when she made it across the street to him.

He noticed the sweat on her brow and that her hands were trembling. Someone had scared her. "What happened?"

She blinked. "Huh?"

"You're shaking."

"Oh, it's nothing." She gave him sheepish smile. He noted that her voice wasn't as quiet now as it had been. "Strangers terrify me for some reason. Of course, brilliant me walked out into a village full of people I don't know."

"Why?"

She was beginning to wonder if he ever said more than two word sentences or made an expression. His face remained completely emotionless as he spoke. Manami shifted a little. "Your dad scares me more than all the others. He's...cold."

Gaara couldn't argue with her. It wasn't as if he'd ever seen his father act warmly towards anyone. He looked at her again. She was still watching him with hope in her eyes. Did she still think he could help her? Gaara felt the defenses he kept around his heart crack a little. This terrified him more than anything else in the world. She could become another Yashimaru, and he couldn't stop it. He should have left her in the cave. Then he'd be safe.

"Gaara?" Manami reached up and placed a hand on his cheek. He had the strangest look on his face. Like he was surprised and terrified to find himself here. "Are you alright?"

He jerked back the moment she touched him. "I'm fine."

She dropped her hand and looked at the ground. "Okay."

Now why did he feel like jerk? Gaara shook his head and led the way back to his house. Temari met them at the door. "She needs to go shopping."

"Then take her," he said as he started to walk past her.

"She won't go without you." Temari placed her hands on her hips, trying not to show her fear. "We terrify her in case you hadn't noticed."

Gaara looked back her her. She was asking, no, telling him to go shopping? He looked at Manami, who was wearing the same blue dress that she had yesterday, and had to admit that Temari had a point. Manami needed clothes, and she wouldn't go anywhere without him. He sighed in resignation.

"Fine," he snapped out.

Temari relaxed. She smiled at Manami. "Let's get you some clothes."

"And different shoes?" Manami asked quietly. Gaara looked at her. She was back to that timid voice again. The others really did scare her more than he did. Weird.

"Sure," Temari agreed easily. She hoped that Manami would be more comfortable around her by the end of the day. If she was, Temari could slowly get her away from Gaara. That was best for everyone. Gaara might hurt Manami if the girl stayed near him too long.

Manami gave Temari a small smile. The three of them headed back out. By the end of the next hour, Gaara was ready to hurt someone. How had he gotten into this mess? Now he knew he should have left Manami in that cave. Then he wouldn't be here putting up with this. He'd be in his room...alone...just like he liked it. But nooo, he had to help her. If he ever figured out which part of him insisted on helping Manami, he'd crush it so that it never came back to life again.

Temari was dragging them to a shoe store now to get Manami a different pair of shoes. They'd already gotten enough clothes that Manami could go two weeks without doing laundry if she wanted to. At least Temari hadn't been brave enough to ask him to carry the bags. That would have been too much for him to deal with and not explode.

His sand shot up and formed a shield around him. He sensed the kunai crash into the barrier and turned to face his attacker. Another assassin. Now where had this guy been when Gaara found Manami. Maybe if the assassin had attacked then, Gaara wouldn't have found her. Then neither of them would be here right now. The assassin took a battle stance. Around them, people screamed and ran for it. Gaara focused all his attention on his attacker. The assassin moved forward and began using taijutsu. Gaara merely stood there and let the sand take the hits. When the taijutsu obviously failed, the attacker jumped into the air and rained shuriken and kunai down onto Gaara. Annoyed, the jinchuriki started to just jump up and deal with the assassin.

"Manami, look out."

Temari's warning had him looked over. Manami hadn't run with the others. She was standing just a few feet away from him watching the fight. Worse, she was in range of the weapons. The sand shifted without Gaara's orders and shielded both him and Manami from the attack. The weapons smashed harmlessly into the sand. Gaara looked up in shock. He hadn't told the sand to do that. It acted as it did when it shielded him, on it's own. It wasn't supposed to do that for anyone else. Was it?

"Gaara," Manami shouted. "Behind you."

He turned to see the assassin running at him. Gaara moved his hands and the sand obeyed him, wrapping itself around his enemy. With deliberate moves, Gaara closed his fist. The sand crushed his enemy with ease. Blood splattered around the ground, and the smell of death filled the air. The sand fell away and his enemy crashed to the ground. Gaara let out a small breath. It was over.

The monster of Suna turned to face Manami. She would hate him now that she'd seen what he could and would do. She'd seen him kill. Gaara looked up and into Manami's eyes. She walked towards him with perfect calm. There was no sign of fear or hatred in her. Only relief.

"Are you alright?" she asked him.

He nodded slowly.

She smiled. "That's great."

"I killed him," he stated, thinking she didn't realize it.

"I know." She looked at the assassin's body with sadness in her eyes. "I almost feel sorry for him, but that's what he gets for attacking you."

Gaara could only stare at her. "You...aren't afraid."

Manami looked at him and tilted her head. "Are you going to kill me?"

Slowly, he shook his head.

"Then why should I be afraid of you?" she asked as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

Gaara couldn't think of anything to say. He didn't even know how he felt. Jonin of the highest level were terrified of him, and yet this girl could face him without batting an eyelash. This was not normal.

"Gaara, what have you done," the Kazekage shouted. At some point, he'd walked up with Temari and Kankuro. Gaara winced automatically. His father's disapproval always stung. It was a constant annoyance to the jinchuriki. He managed to give up all emotion except one, the need for his father's approval.

"Don't yell at him," Manami snapped out, showing courage in front of strangers for the first time. "Gaara didn't do anything wrong. That man attacked him."

The Kazekage was a little taken aback by Manami's defense of Gaara, but it didn't take him long to recover. "That's beside the point."

"He sent the assassin," Gaara told her quietly.

She looked back to see he was back to being emotionless. His eyes were looking away from his father and from her. Manami turned back the Kazekage. "Why? Why would you do that to your own son? Fathers are supposed to protect their children, not kill them."

"Gaara is a monster," the Kazekage explained. "The sand spirit Shukaku lives in him."

"So what?" she snapped out. Manami had no idea where this sudden courage came from. It didn't matter. She wasn't going to let them make Gaara suffer for protecting himself. "He's just supposed to stand there and let people kill him? You honestly think anyone would do that? You're demented."

"Watch it, girl. I am the Kazekage of this village and require your respect."

She glared at him. "Show you respect? For treating your own son like a monster?" She sneered. "I don't think so. By the way, my name is Manami, not 'Girl'."

The Kazekage took an ominous step forward, intending to punish her for her disrespect. A sand wall formed between him and the girl. He looked over at his son. Gaara wasn't even looking at him. Still watching his son, the Kazekage stepped back. The sand wall fell back down.

Manami had been just as surprised by the sand as Gaara's father. She looked at him and saw he didn't even seem aware the sand had moved. Her attention turned back to the Kazekage and the courage she'd been burning with a moment ago melted away. She sidled over to Gaara and took his hand. He looked at her in shock and then consideration. Manami still wasn't afraid. She didn't hate him.

Temari looked at her youngest brother's face. He seemed so confused. It was then she realized that Manami might be able to save Gaara from himself. Manami could save them all from Gaara if given the chance. Temari intended to make sure their new guest got that chance.

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All done for the moment. Don't forget to let me know what you think.


	4. Missions and a Journey

All finished with this chapter.

Disclaimer: Look. We all know I don't own Naruto already so quit expecting me to say it...dang it...I said it again.

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Ch. 4: Missions and a Journey**

Gaara was about to leave on a mission, and Manami was trying very hard not to panic. Even Temari was going. The only two people Manami had come to be comfortable with in the last week wouldn't be here anymore. She took another breath, hoping to fight off her fear. The last thing she wanted was to be a burden to Gaara. She paced to work off her nerves.

Gaara shook his head. Manami hadn't said anything but she didn't have to. The girl was about as good at hiding her thoughts as he was at dealing with people. In short, she was terrible. Oh, well. Nothing he could do about it. He had to leave. Gaara wasn't sure who he was trying to convince, Manami or himself. He made his way to the door. The sound of her footsteps behind him told him she was following.

Manami stopped walking at the edge of the village. Baki, Temari, and Kankuro were there, waiting on Gaara. She took a breath and watched them start to leave. Kankuro and Temari waved at her. Gaara barely acknowledged her. Manami waved good bye and turned to head back into the village. She paused when a portion of sand moved up forming a hand and waved at her. She smiled and suddenly things didn't seem so bad.

She walked back through the village and tried not to think. Things could remain good if she didn't let her mind wonder. If she didn't keep her thoughts blank, she'd remember she was alone now. Manami frowned and stiffened her spine. She couldn't walk around depending on Gaara forever. Could she? The idea did have some appeal though she couldn't figure out why. Something to think about. She looked into the store fronts. It was a habit now. Temari had suggested that maybe if she saw something that she had in the past, she might remember some of it. It hadn't happened so far, but Manami didn't give up. She was bound to remember something eventually. Wasn't she? One could only hope.

Something in one of the windows caught her eye. A silver chain with a dog tag hanging from it. A tree with 'life' written below it was engraved into one side of the tag. On the other was the grim reaper with the word 'death' below him. She titled her head and remembered that Temari said Gaara proved to himself he was alive by killing. His proof of life was death. That necklace seemed made for him.

On impulse, she went inside and asked for the necklace. Temari had given her some money before leaving, which simplified things for Manami. Especially when she found something she just had to get, like the necklace. Manami ran her thumb over the tree and wondered why it seemed fitting that the tree represented life to whoever had engraved it there.

Over the next few days, she learned her way around Suna and intentionally dealt with strangers, except for the Kazekage. Him she avoided at all times. Still, when Gaara got back, she wanted to be a little stronger. That way she'd be a little less of a bother to him. At night, she was anything but strong. The nightmare chased her in her sleep, always leaving her with questions and no answers. She gave up on ever getting a full nights sleep until Gaara returned. The nightmares left her jittery and nothing else calmed her down enough to sleep.

Finally, she'd explored every inch of Suna. Then she got bored. Manami wondered over to a bookshelf in the Kazekage's home. She picked a history. Not knowing her past, made her wonder about such things. Was it important to know where one came from? Maybe she'd find the answer in one of these books. Once she started reading, she didn't stop. For days she stayed in Gaara's room with a book, and only came out for food. She'd realized that it wasn't only her history she'd forgotten, but all history. Or maybe she never knew it to begin with. It's possible she'd never been taught about the world. She didn't know where Suna was or what other places there were besides the sand village.

"Where did I come from?" she wondered as she examined a map in a geography book. "Which one of these lands is home?"

She frowned. There was a leaf like symbol over a village in the Land of Fire. It seemed so familiar to her. She touched it as she tried to pin down the memory that kept running away from her. Her eyes jerked up when the door opened and she forgot all about the leaf symbol. Manami jumped up with a smile and wrapped her arms around Gaara. He was home.

"Gaara, you're back," she said with a laugh.

Gaara nearly stumbled back in shock and nearly shoved her away. During the mission, he'd almost convinced himself Manami's acceptance had been a dream. That it hadn't been real. Her hug had ruined that. Gaara let her hug him without saying or doing anything. To be honest, he wasn't sure what was supposed to say. He'd never been greeted with happiness before. That armor that he kept around his heart cracked just a little more.

She let him go and backed up smiling. "Sorry. I know you don't like to be hugged. Couldn't help it."

He shrugged indifferently and looked around. His room looked lived in now. Books sat on the desk along with papers and writing utensils. The bed was a little rumpled rather than it's usual perfection. The balcony door was slid open, letting in a cool breeze. He looked at Manami and tilted his head. She was holding a small box out to him. Wary of a trick, he took it and looked at her in confusion. What was with the box?

"I found it the day you left. It seems right for you somehow," she explained.

"The box?"

She laughed. "No, silly. What's in the box. Open it and take a look."

He wasn't sure what to think. One, she'd just called him silly. Was he supposed to be insulted? If so, why wasn't he? The other thing was, she was giving him something. Out of curiosity, he opened the box and stared. The necklace wasn't anything spectacular, but she was right. It seemed made for him. Life and death. Two sides of one coin. Death, he was very familiar with. Life was something he tried to prove he had.

He looked up at her and admitted he would have liked the necklace even if it meant nothing to him. It was proof that even when he wasn't there, she'd thought of him. She thought enough to get something for him. This simple necklace was his first gift.

"Like it?" she asked him, watching him with those innocent eyes.

Slowly, he nodded, still unsure of what to say. She took it and slipped it over his head, and because she knew him, tucked it into his shirt. Gaara would never want anyone to see him wearing the necklace. She wasn't sure she understood why. Manami figured it was a guy thing. Most of the guys she met hid their jewelry from others. Then again, they only wore the jewelry if it was important to them. Having things that mattered like that was considered a weakness in the shinobi world. So if it mattered, a shinobi hid it.

"I'm glad," she told him. "How did the mission go?"

"Fine." Gaara was still trying to get his balance back, figuratively speaking. The greeting and the gift had thrown him for a loop. He walked the rest of the way into the room and put his bag down. Gaara turned and considered her for a moment. "You're different."

"Huh?"

"Your more relaxed than you were before I left."

"I worked on that," Manami said proudly. "I managed to deal with most of the things that bother me. I'm still scared of people I don't know but I can handle them if I must. I also learned quit a bit from books while you were gone."

He looked at the pile of books on his desk without comment.

"I figured since I know nothing about myself, I could learn about other things." She looked at the books. "I did learn something about myself. I like to read."

At least she'll be occupied when I leave for missions, he thought. That was not the last time Gaara left for a mission. Over the next several month, he spent maybe a week in Suna. Manami kept herself as occupied as possible. She would read and try different hobbies. That suggestion came form Kankuro – whom she was still afraid of. He said that if she tried all the hobbies, she bound to find one she was good at. That hobby might be one she had before. It sounded like a good idea and it kept her from thinking about Gaara not being there.

She was in the greenhouse when Gaara returned form his latest mission. Manami had been in Suna for nearly four months and still remembered nothing of her past. The nightmares were as close as she got, and they never changed. When Gaara walked into the greenhouse, she was thrilled to see him. It was difficult but she managed not to hug him this time simply because she was coated in dirt. She did give him a warm smile. "Welcome back, Gaara."

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

"Planting. Turns out, I know how. I seem to have a knack for plants. At least, that's what the shinobi tell me." Manami put the spade down and dusted herself off. "I've been trying everything while you were gone. Painting – I can't even make a stick figure by the way – writing, shinobi arts, and so on and so on. You get the picture. A few weeks ago, I saw a shinobi that needed help carrying some plants to the greenhouse. One thing led to another and I was helping out."

Gaara looked around. This was where Suna grew most of their medicinal herbs, and he'd never actually been inside before. The medical core, who was in charge of the plants, was very touchy about who messed with the plants. If they kept letting her come back, she indeed had a knack for plants.

"I was thinking that maybe I gardened before," she continued. She noticed he still had the bag he took with him. "What's going on?"

"I'm going to Konoha in the Land of Fire for the chunin exams," he told her.

"But you just got back from a mission." Manami didn't want him to go. Then again, she never wanted him to go in the first place, but this was different. He hadn't even been back for a day.

"I know."

She shifted and gathered her courage. "Can...can I come? I mean, you're just taking a test right? I shouldn't be in the way. I'll just stay with Baki when you're busy."

"Everyone in Konoha will be a stranger," he pointed out.

"I'll be okay if you're there."

Gaara thought about it for a moment then nodded. "Alright. You can come."

Manami was so excited she nearly forgot about the dirt and hugged him. Nearly. She clasped her hands behind her back and just beamed at him. He shook his head at her and motioned for her to follow him back to his house. She'd need to pack for the journey. Baki and the others could wait a few more minutes. Gaara was relieved that his father wasn't home. He didn't not want to explain why he'd come back here. Manami packed quickly so she wouldn't make him wait any longer than necessary. It wasn't like she had a lot to pack anyway. She slung her bag onto her shoulder.

"Ready," she told him cheerfully. Manami shifted a little uncomfortably. "Are you sure the others won't be mad?"

"I don't care if they are," he stated and turned to lead the way out.

Manami could only smile at such a typically Gaara remark. She shouldn't have bothered asking him. They made their way to the village gate. Baki and the others were already their and waiting. When they saw Manami, there was a round of surprised looks from each of them. Temari recovered first and smiled. She should have known this would happen eventually. At least for missions like this, when Manami wouldn't have any effect on things.

Baki examined Manami and decided not to object. She might be able to control Gaara and that was something he wouldn't pass up. A shinobi used all tools at his disposal, even civilians with no memories. "Alright. Now that we're all here, let's get going."

Gaara lifted Manami, causing her to let out a surprised yelp. She let out another one when Gaara began to run with the others using chakra enhanced speed. Once she was used to the speed, Manami looked around with interest. She'd never been outside Suna – at least not that she remembered. Everything in the world was new and exciting. Gaara kept a grip on her as she twisted this way and that, trying to see everything at once. He was surprised to find that her antics amused him.

Baki didn't call a stop until after sundown. Manami settled next to Gaara and munched on an apple. She'd developed a fondness for the fruit. Every one of them tasted like heaven. Maybe because it had been the first thing she remembered eating. Gaara looked at her, satisfied to see she'd put on some weight in the last few months. When he'd found her in the cave, she'd been too thin. Now she was almost where she should be.

"Gaara, can I ask you something?" Manami asked quietly. She'd just finished the apple and was settled down to sleep.

He met her eyes to show he was listening.

"Why don't you sleep?"

"Shukaku could take over if I slept," he explained. Gaara looked back up at the stars.

"Is Shukaku really that evil?"

"It's not that he's evil. He just doesn't think like us, because he's not human." Gaara closed his eyes and tried to think of a way to explain the sand spirit. "He loves to fight and prove his strength. Shukaku will do anything if he finds it amusing. I'm not sure if that makes him a monster or not."

Manami looked at Gaara and then took his hand in hers. "Even if it does. That doesn't make you one." She snuggled into the blanket and closed her eyes with a yawn. "You're just Gaara."

Had he ever been just Gaara? he wondered. No. He'd always been the monster or the jinchuriki, but never just Gaara. Gaara opened his eyes and looked up at the stars again. Watching them could pass the time until sunrise when they would travel again. Manami fell asleep still holding his hand. This dream was different than all the other one. It started without light.

_It was dark in there. She'd never seen the sun. Her mother told her about the sun once, and she always wondered what it really looked like. Mom had told her about many things. Trees, flowers, the sky, stars. The list of things she'd never seen went on and on. Her mother was dead now and there was no one to talk about the outside world with anymore. _

_Her mother had been a disappointment to the Monster. That's what she called him. What scared her most was he seemed so normal. No one would ever look at him and see the monster beneath his skin. But it was there in his eyes. The Monster wanted her to be able to do what her mother couldn't. She wasn't sure what it was. Mom had told her that what the Monster wanted had something to do with their blood and her great great grandfather. _

_She jerked when the door opened. The Monster was back. She stood and pressed herself against the wall. He was going to take more of her blood for tests he said. She'd learned to hate needles in this place. He walked towards her, and she couldn't help the whimper that escaped her. The Monster gave her one of those smiles. The one that fooled everyone into thinking he wasn't a monster. It didn't fool her. He stepped towards her with the needle and told her it wouldn't hurt a bit. She whimpered again but didn't fight him. She knew better than that. He took some blood and said, "I hope you are a success. It's getting harder and harder to find suitable men to breed your family with."_

_He made her sound like a cow. At least, that's what her mother had said. They were merely his cattle, and he was trying to get the best possible result. She said nothing to him. The monster gave another smile and walked out of her room. The metal door clanked as it shut. She sat on her bed and cried._

"Manami, wake up."

Someone was shaking her. Manami opened her eyes and looked into Gaara's eyes. She smiled a little in confusion. "What?"

"You're crying."

She sat up and touched her face. Sure enough, there were tears there. "Must have been the dream. It was weird." Manami told him about it. She finished with, "It didn't scare me like the other one did. This time it just made me feel...hopeless."

"Did you see the Monster?" he asked curiously.

"No. He was a shadow in the dream." Manami looked up at the sky. The sun was coming up so there was no point in going back to sleep. "I had a mother once though."

"I assume everyone did."

Manami smiled at his sarcasm. "She would tell me about the outside world. I don't know if she'd ever actually seen it herself."

Gaara was about to ask her about the Monster some more, but Baki woke before he could. His siblings stirred and slowly got up. Gaara sighed and shelved his other questions for the moment. Manami never wanted to talk about her dreams in front of anyone. She told him once that it made them seem more terrifying somehow. For all she knew, one of them was the Monster. Gaara stood and watched as the others packed up again. Afterwards, he lifted Manami and began running again.

The next few days passed uneventfully. They ran, ate, and slept. By the end of the week, the sand shinobi stepped into Konoha along with others preparing for the Chunin exams. Gaara set Manami down and ordered her to stay close. Manami didn't have to be told twice. All the strangers had her skin clamming up. Her eyes moved to the mountain just behind Konoha. The faces of men were carved into it, and each man seemed to radiate peace and power. She tore her eyes away and examined the shinobi around them. They looked strong. She saw leaf village headband and was struck by how familiar the leaf symbol looked to her. Maybe she'd been here before. Maybe a piece of her past was here. She wasn't sure if she hoped or feared that.

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That's it for this chapter. Now don't forget. To be finished you have to move your mouse to the link or button that says 'review' and tell me what you think.


	5. Men from the Past

Chapter 5 is all finished.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, Gaara wouldn't have died and Sasuke wouldn't become the bad guy. Since all that happened, I obviously don't own it.

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Ch. 5: Men from the Past  
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Manami looked around Konoha with interest. She was walking with Kankuro and Temari through the village. The two had agreed to walk around with her – Kankuro only after Temari hit him. Manami had gotten more comfortable with Kankuro over the last week. He still made her nervous but that was more because of his attitude than anything else. Still, she could tell he cared about Gaara as much as Temari did. That made the difference to her.

Kankuro from being annoyed that he had to walk around the village with her and seemed to be looking for a fight. He got one just a little while before they were supposed to meet with Gaara. They were just walking around a corner when someone crashed into Kankuro. She looked down to see it was a little kid. Manami was about to ask if the kid was alright when Kankuro reached down lifted the kid by his scarf. Manami took several steps back. This would be the times Kankuro made her a lot more than nervous. She pressed her back against the wooded wall that lined the street, trying to put as much distance between her and the angry sand shinobi as she could.

Manami looked passed Kankuro to see two leaf shinobi and two more kids. The girl with pink hair apologized, taking the blame for making the kid run into Kankuro. The blond with a big mouth ordered Kankuro to put the kid, who he called Konohamaru, down.

She heard Konohamaru grunt in pain. Her heart won over her fear, and Manami took a hesitant step away from the wall. "Kankuro, please put him down. He's just a kid."

Kankuro glared and turned his attention back to the leaf genin. Manami looked at the two leaf shinobi helplessly and back at Kankuro in fear. The blond leaf genin decided to deal with the puppeteer using the direct approach. He charged. Kankuro used his chakra puppet strings to pull the blond's feet out from under him. The puppet master smirked and told them just what he thought of kids and weaklings.

"Kankuro, please. This is enough." Manami reached out and put a hand on the arm supporting the kid. She was seriously starting to think that this situation was why the word shinobi sent chills down her spine.

Kankuro glared at her a drew back his other fist to hid the kid. Something must have hit him because he dropped the kid. Manami caught Konohamaru and backed away from Kankuro. She looked up into the tree and saw a boy the girls called Sasuke as they turned all goo goo eyed. Manami would admit, he was cute. But he was nothing compared to Gaara. Then again, she had a biased opinion. Sasuke scared her just like everyone else. She looked at his dark eyes. He had the same look in his eyes as Gaara.

"Ummm, who are you?" the kid she was holding asked.

She smiled a little. "My name is Manami."

Konohamaru looked at her forehead. "You're not a shinobi."

She shook her head. "No. I'm here with the sand genin."

"Oh." He smiled at her. "Thanks for trying to save me, and for actually catching me."

Manami put him down. "You're welcome."

She'd been so busy with the kid, she didn't notice Gaara until he'd said, "Kankuro, back off."

Manami looked up with a smile of relief. Gaara would keep Kankuro from being a jerk. Gaara looked down at her and saw she'd been afraid. This pissed him off. He'd left her with his siblings so she wouldn't be afraid. Gaara turned angry eyes to his brother. Kankuro stumbled back and was sweating a little.

Gaara turned to sand and appeared on the ground. Manami walked right up to him and said, "Hello, Gaara."

He looked at her then back to Kankuro. "You were suppose to be watching her, not scaring her."

"It not like she's hard to scare," Kankuro grumbled.

"What was that?" Gaara demanded.

"Nothing, Gaara. You're right. I should have been more careful." Kankuro help up his hands like they would shield him from Gaara's anger. His little brother was easier to upset these days. Temari had a theory that it was the emotions he wasn't used to dealing with. Kankuro had to agree.

Manami realized how angry Gaara was and took his hand. "It's okay, Gaara. Kankuro didn't mean to scare me. He's right. I scare easily."

Gaara relaxed a little when she touched him. "Let's go."

The sand genin and Manami turned to leave. The leaf genin weren't finished with them yet. The pink haired one demanded an explanation for their presence in the village. Temari, being the more talkative of the sand shinobi, explained. They turned once again to leave when Sasuke asked for Gaara's name. The two introduced themselves and had something like a stand off.

The blond pointed at himself and said, "I bet you want to know my name."

"Couldn't care less," Gaara replied, making the blond look dejected.

Manami shook her head and smiled at the blond. With Gaara here, she wasn't afraid anymore. "I would like to know your name."

The blond perked up and gave her the goofiest grin she'd ever seen. It was contagious. She couldn't help but smile with him. He said with great pride, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"Well, Naruto, please don't take Gaara's or Kankuro's attitude to heart. They aren't really bad guys." She waved. "We'll meet again."

Gaara led the way to their rooms. As usual, Manami stayed with Gaara. Gaara sat and stared out the window. She knew this meant they weren't going anywhere for a while. This was good opportunity to catch up on her reading. She sat on the bed and picked up a book.

The next day, she went for a walk on her own. This was a perfect time to try and deal with her stranger-phobia. She paused when she saw the three genin from the day before. They were walking towards her. She smiled and waved. For some reason she wasn't nearly as afraid of them as she was yesterday. It had something to do with Naruto, she thought. Something about him seemed so similar to Gaara. "Hello again."

The blond grinned. "You're the girl from yesterday. The one with Gaara."

She nodded and looked at the other two. Manami focused on the pink haired girl. "I don't know your name."

"I'm Sakura." Sakura smiled and held out a hand. "We don't know your name either."

"Oh, how silly of me." Manami took the offered hand with a sheepish smile. "I'm Manami."

Sakura noticed that Manami's hand was a little clammy and had a fine tremor in it. The girl was shaking. The kunoichi chose not to say anything. She knew what it was like to pretend you're not afraid when you are. Naruto and Sasuke were very brave, and Sakura frequently pretended to be brave when she wasn't.

"Tell me about Gaara." Sasuke actually spoke to Manami, which surprised both his teammates.

Manami blinked. "What do you want to know? I mean, I'm not a shinobi so I don't know what to tell you."

"Is he strong?"

She nodded. "He's the strongest in our village. Even jonin watch out for him." Manami rubbed the back of her head with a chuckle. "I don't actually know if that's a big deal or not. Kankuro just told me that once, and he made it sound serious. I don't understand much about the shinobi world."

"Haven't you ever dealt with shinobi before?" Naruto asked. "I mean, they're everywhere."

Manami looked down. "I don't know. You see, I don't remember my life before a few months ago. I don't know where I'm from or who I was. Manami is the name Gaara gave me." She looked at Sasuke. "What I can tell you is that Gaara lives to fight. It's all he knows. And I hope I can change that one day."

"Why?" he asked. Living that way sounded fine to him. Hell, that's how he lived. To fight and prove himself better than his opponent.

"Because no one should live with only one obsession that controls their life. It makes you blind to everything else." Manami met his eyes. Sasuke did have Gaara's eyes. There was sadness and loneliness deep in them. She saw a pain so strong it was heartbreaking. "You need balance in life or you'll have so many regrets when it's over. You'll get what you thought you always wanted, only to find that it's meaningless if you're alone."

"You know, for a girl without a memory, you sure sound smart," Sakura commented.

Manami flashed a big smile. "I know. Temari says I'm a genius. I don't actually think I am but it sounds nice anyway." She looked up at the sun. "Oh dear. If I don't get back, Gaara will come looking for me." The civilian smiled at the three genin. "It was nice seeing you again. Good luck with the exams." She turned and raced off to find Gaara.

Sasuke dismissed what she'd said. What was wrong with a little obsession? He turned and walked away. Nothing was wrong with it. Then why did what she said keep running through his head? A girl with nothing. That's what she was. She'd had it all once. Family, friends, a home. Then one moment had taken everything from her. Just like him. Did she mourn the loss of all that? She she wonder what happened to the family she once had? At least he had answer to what happened and why. She had nothing. Only the knowledge that once, she had to belong somewhere. That somewhere out there is a family she doesn't know. Was that worse that what he lived with?

The Uchiha shook his head. What did it matter? He knew what he wanted and he would get it. No matter what he had to do or give up. Itachi would pay. He would make his brother pay. The Uchiha paused and looked over his shoulder at Naruto and Sakura. Naruto was just about to leave and was waving to Sakura. His teammates, Sasuke thought. His family in a way. Sasuke sighed ruefully. He was still thinking about what Manami said. Maybe...he should be.

Early morning five days later, everyone gathered for the exams. Manami walked with Team Baki to the academy. She knew she'd have to wait outside while the first exam was in progress, but that was fine. Team Baki went inside with a farewell wave and a thanks for the good luck she offered them. Manami decided to wonder around a little. She saw Team 7 and noticed something was wrong with Sakura.

"Hay, Sakura," she called out and walked over.

The pink haired girl looked up and managed a smile. "Hey, Manami."

"What's wrong? You look...upset."

Sakura looked at Sasuke. She wasn't sure about admitting anything was wrong in front of Sasuke. Especially since he was part of what was wrong. She looked at Manami's concerned eyes then sighed. Sakura really wanted to talk to someone and it wasn't like Sasuke's opinion of her could get any worse. "It's just that, I don't know if I'm cut out for this. And I was attacked yesterday. The shinobi made a genjutsu and killed Sasuke in it." She gave Sasuke a small smile. "I can't get the image out of my head even though I know it wasn't real."

Manami placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder in comfort. "I'm sorry."

"How do you do it, Manami?" Sakura asked. "You're a civilian. You can't even go with them on missions. All you can do is sit at home and wait for them to come back, if they come back. How can you live with the fear that Gaara could be killed and you aren't able to do anything to stop it?"

"I just keep going," Manami replied solemnly. "I can't stop him from going on missions. I can't go with him because I'm not a shinobi. What I can do is be there when he gets back with a welcoming smile. It's not much, but it's something." She smiled. "It helps Gaara knows it's not easy for me when he's not there, and does what he can to ease my concerns."

Sakura looked away. "Must be nice to know he cares about you. That's you're not just and annoyance."

"Actually, I don't know that," Manami said with a rueful smile. "Gaara doesn't tell me what he thinks. For all I know, he eases my concerns because he feels obligated to, or because I annoy him less when I'm not worried." Her eyes darted to Sasuke, who was watching Sakura as if he just understood something about her. "I'd hope that being teammates, you guys are at least friends and would help each other out when the fear gets to be too much."

"Of course we would," Naruto stated as he stepped up next to Sakura. His eyes held concern for his friend. "You'll ace this test just like all the others, Sakura, and we'll all watch out for each other. See. We'll be fine."

To her surprise, Sasuke said, "Naruto's right, Sakura. We're a team."

After getting over her shock, Sakura smiled at her teammates. "Thanks guys. It was kind of a silly thing to worry about, wasn't it?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Everyone is afraid sometimes."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Remember, I froze during our first mission. You don't need to hide being afraid from us, Sakura. We understand."

To her shame, Sakura felt like crying. She barely managed to keep that from happening. "You guys are the greatest. You know that. A girl couldn't ask for better teammates."

Manami smiled. "See. All's good."

Sakura nodded and felt she had to help Manami in some way. "What are you afraid of? You're shaking a little. I noticed it last time too."

"I'm afraid of strangers," Manami answered, dropping her hand. "Unless Gaara is around anyway. I'm actually much better with you three than I am with others."

"If you're afraid of strangers, why come here?"

"Because I wanted to be with Gaara," was Manami's simple answer. She looked at the building. "You guys better get inside or you'll be late."

Team 7 said good bye and made their way inside. Manami hoped that everything would be alright for everyone. She knew from Gaara that the look in Sasuke's eyes was dangerous. Sakura and Naruto would be the ones to suffer most if he didn't get a hold of himself soon. Manami wished she could help. She liked Sakura and Naruto. Sasuke showed some hope though when he'd helped Naruto ease Sakura's fear. Maybe she was worrying for nothing.

She turned to make her way back to the room and saw him. She didn't know his name. Manami wasn't even sure why he terrified her so much. As far as she knew, she'd never seen him before in her life. And yet, she couldn't breathe or move. Every muscle in her body twitched and sweat trickled down her back. He turned and looked at her. Instinctively she took a step back.

Manami didn't understand. He didn't look that terrifying. He was about twenty years old. His silver hair was kept in a low ponytail and bangs framed his eyes. He had glasses and seemed friendly enough. He wore a leaf village headband and gear. She took another step back when she saw his dark eyes widen in shock and worry enter his eyes. He turned and started towards her. She ran. Manami knew she couldn't let him get her, and didn't even try to question it.

She opened the door to the room she shared with Gaara and slammed the door shut behind her. Only when it was locked did she let herself relax. Who was he? She leaned against the door. Why was she so afraid of someone she didn't know? Manami slid to the ground and wished Gaara was there. She needed his presence more than ever. Her eyes drooped a little. Emotional exhaustion, she knew. It happened when she experienced a great deal of fear at once. She'd get so tired. Manami stood and stumbled to the bed. Maybe she'd be fine after a nap. The dream hit instantly.

_The door was opening. She stood and pressed herself against the wall. Please don't be the Monster. It wasn't but the boy who came in wasn't any better. Not really. He had a Jekyll and Hyde personality. One moment he was friendly and kind. The next, he was just as much a monster as his boss. Sometimes he came to take her blood instead. The Monster and the boy seemed thrilled with the recent tests results. They'd even begun to talk about letting her out of her cell. That did give her some hope. He came in and she saw he didn't have a needle this time. "Good news. You're just what we need. At last."_

"_What...what does that mean?" she asked shakily. Her voice was rusty with disuse. She'd barely spoken in years.  
_

"_You get to come out and begin training." The boys grinned. "You have to learn how to use the ability."_

_She stared at him with disbelief. "I get...to...see the sun?"_

_He nodded. "Of course."_

_She smiled for perhaps the first time since before her mother's death three years ago. He gestured for her to come out and held the door open. With butterflies in her stomach, she stepped out of the room for the first time in her life. It took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust to light. Once she could see again, she looked up at the boy's face and saw it clearly for the first time._

Manami jerked up. It was him. The boy from earlier that terrified her for no reason at all. He was the Monster's right hand man. She also now knew why the leaf headband seemed so familiar. He wore one the first time she saw his face. She scooted off the bed quickly.

"I have to tell Gaara," she said to herself and rushed for the door. When she opened it, there was a man there. He was bad news and she knew it. It was in his eyes. Manami took a step back and screamed.

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All done and yes I left you hanging. See you in the next chapter.


	6. Warnings for Team 7

Alright. I've got this chapter up so you can quit worrying about Manami. I'd say sorry about the cliff hanger but I'm not really. The reviews I get after a cliffy are always entertaining.

Disclaimer: we all know what goes here so I really don't have to put it here. Look at another chapter if you must read one.

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Ch. 6: Warnings for Team 7**

The man started to step forward and reached for her. Manami stumbled back and the second scream turned into a whimper. The man was a shinobi. If she was guessing right, he was a jonin. He frowned and looked over his shoulder. She heard it too. Someone was coming. The man glared at her and said, "We'll talk later."

That voice. It was the same as the Monster's. Manami felt another scream bubble up. The man turned and ran. Seconds later, Baki rushed into her room. What he saw, he'd never forget for the rest of his life. Manami had run to a corner and was curled into herself. Her body shook so hard her teeth were chattering. Her eyes were wide and staring at him like he was a boogie man.

"Manami," he took a careful step forward.

She whimpered and pressed herself into the corner. This wasn't going to work, he thought. The only person who could get to her would be Gaara and he was in the middle of a test. Baki looked up at the clock. No. He was just finishing the test. Baki debated on the best move. Someone had to get Gaara, but he couldn't leave Manami alone in this state. He'd just have to send a clone to retrieve Gaara.

Once the clone left, Baki closed the door to help ease some of Manami's fear. She whimpered every time he moved so he pulled a chair over to the farthest corner form her and sat. It took three long minutes for Gaara to burst into the room. He didn't even pause to look around or say anything to Baki. The jinchuriki knelt in front of Manami and held out his hand. She threw herself into his arms. Gaara looked up at Baki and the jonin braced himself. The rage that burned in Sabaku no Gaara's eyes promised retribution when he got his hands on the person who scared Manami.

"What happened?" Gaara demanded.

"I don't know," Baki admitted. "I was down the street when I heard her scream. By the time I got here, she was alone and just as you saw her when you walked in."

Gaara looked at Manami. She was finally calming down. Tremors still shook her body but her eyes were no longer wild with fear. He tightened his grip when Kankuro and Temari came into the room. Manami turned her face into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I couldn't control myself."

"Just tell me what happened," Gaara ordered.

"He's here. The Monster. I heard his voice." She frowned. Manami had just realized that it hadn't been his face. "His voice, but it didn't look like him."

"Did he hurt you?" Gaara demanded.

She shook her head. "No. I saw one of his men among the genin, and I was going to tell you. I opened the door and he was standing there. Almost as if he'd been waiting for me." Manami swallowed. "I didn't know he was the Monster until he spoke. That's when I panicked."

"Do you remember a name?" Kankuro asked.

Manami shook her head. "I'm sorry. I don't think I ever knew their names. I only knew them as The Boy and The Monster." She turned her face away from Gaara's shoulder so she could see the others. "I don't remember much. I only have three memories to work with. The one where I'm running, which really doesn't make any sense yet. Then there's the one where the Monster is taking blood from me." She looked at Gaara. "I just had a new one."

Manami told them everything about her most recent dream. When she finished, Gaara sat back and wondered just what was going on with these exams. First his father assigns them a mission that makes no sense, and now Manami's past was popping up without explanations. Something wasn't right. He stood and turned to Baki. "She's not to be left alone anymore."

Baki nodded in agreement. He thought about the situation and said, "The condition you found her in originally indicates they didn't let her go willingly when she escaped them. They may want her back."

"Or are afraid she knows something they don't want to become general knowledge," Temari said as she quickly worked through the possibilities. "Them coming to this room means they know she's with us now."

"She'll stay with me unless I'm in a test, then she'll stay with Baki," Gaara said and helped Manami to her feet.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I don't mean to bother everyone."

"You're not," Temari said with a smile. "This is just something we didn't expect. Not a bother. Don't worry, Manami. We'll protect you."

Manami nodded. She wasn't panicking anymore, but she still didn't leave Gaara's side for the rest of the day. That night she had the first dream – the running dream as she'd started calling it – and it was worse than normal. More of the Monster's skills were displayed as she ran. It was then that she realized that her mother called him a snake because he could move like one. Not only that, he'd sent several after her to try and trip her. The bigger ones attempted to wrap around her body like rope. Manami couldn't figure out how she'd gotten away. Every time she did whatever it was that allowed her to escape the snakes and jutsus, her vision went black. The next thing she knew, she was running again.

The dream had kept the fear fresh, so Manami went with Gaara the next morning when the Genin gathered for the second test. Which meant Baki was in the area. She'd need to go with him after the genin entered the Forest of Death. Manami tried to keep herself relaxed by looking around at the genin. Most of them seemed nervous and their eyes kept darting towards the forest. Her stomach clenched when she saw the silver-haired boy from the dream again. She wished she had a name to go with his face. Manami tugged on Gaara's sleeve.

"What is it?" he asked, looking at her over his shoulder.

"That's him," she said, pointing at the boy with glasses. "That's the boy I told you about yesterday."

He glanced over and memorized the boy's face. While he did that, Manami had an idea. She smiled. "He's a leaf genin. I'm going to talk to Team 7. They might know his name."

Before Gaara could say anything, she rushed off. His eyes followed her every move, and he watched others around her for anyone too interested in her. They'd all have to stay on guard while there were people here who knew her and wanted something from her. Gaara would feel much better if he knew who the Monster in her dreams was. He was the leader, which made him the one they needed to be worried about.

Manami was almost to Team 7 when she heard his voice. The Monster was talking to someone. She froze for a second and then remember that Gaara wasn't far away. No one could hurt her as long as Gaara was near. She took a deep breath and listened. Manami couldn't hear every word but she did hear them mention the Uchiha and something about a curse mark. 'I have to warn Sasuke,' she thought and began walking quickly.

"Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura," she called out.

They turned to her with surprise. Naruto tilted his head. "You're not a genin, so why are you here."

"I'll explain in a minute. First, I have to warn you." She looked around nervously. "Let's get away from everyone else. I don't want anyone overhearing."

The nodded and moved away from the crowd. Manami took a breath and began. "There's two things. First, do you know who the silver-haired genin is? The one from the leaf village with glasses?"

"His name is Kabuto Yakushi," Sakura supplied with concern in her voice. Something was wrong with Manami. The civilian was even more skittish than normal. "Why?"

"I'll get to that in a second," Manami replied and her voice dropped to a near whisper. "Look. I've slowly been getting memories back. I have three now already. Which may not seem like much to you, but it is to someone with none to begin with." Manami took a calming breath and looked over at Gaara for courage. He was watching her and that helped. She turned back to Sasuke. "Someone is after you. I heard him mention the Uchiha. You have to avoid him at all costs. He's a monster."

"You know who it is?" he demanded. Manami had his attention now, though he couldn't say he was concerned really. This civilian was afraid of everyone after all, which made it hard to take her seriously.

She shook her head. "Only his voice. He's hiding his real face from everyone. I don't know which one of these genin is him, but he's among them."

"What do you know?" Naruto said, determination in his blue eyes. No one would hurt his teammates while he was around. Not even a monster.

"He kept me prisoner for some reason. It's all I remember really. I don't know his name or why he needed me. I just know it had something to do with my blood, because he kept drawing some from me." Manami looked into Sasuke's eyes with a plea. "Please, Sasuke. Whatever you do, don't let him get you. Don't go with him. Don't even get think about going anywhere with him if you can help it. He's a monster straight to his core. He'll kill everyone who matters to you if it suits him."

She was shaking again. Just thinking about the Monster terrified her. The unreasonable panic took hold of her mind and she couldn't think anymore. Manami closed her eyes and forced herself to speak. This was important. His eyes were just like Gaara's, so she had to be sure he understood how important this was. "Please, Sasuke. Promise me. Nothing good can come from this Monster. Nothing."

Sasuke actually felt some nerves hit him because of the strength of her fear. He looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to him. A waste of time because everyone was checking everyone else out. He looked back at Manami. She was watching him now. Waiting for his promise still.

He sighed. "I can't make a promise when I don't know what's going on. You've only told me he was a monster, and no I don't want to work for a monster."

"Be careful, Sasuke. Please," she begged. "This is serious."

"I will," he promised.

A memory seemed to tug at her mind. She saw someone being bit and mark appearing on their body. They called it a blessing but she called it a curse. Her head began to hurt and she grabbed it. She stumbled back and fell into someone. Manami looked over her shoulder and saw Gaara. "My head hurts now."

"Don't force the memories," he ordered. He looked at the clock. It was almost time for them to turn in the consent forms. He turned and made his way towards his siblings. Over his shoulder he said, "Manami, you should join Baki now."

"We should get going too," Sasuke said. Naruto and Sakura followed him towards the covered stand to turn in their forms.

Manami grabbed Sakura's hand. "Sakura, watch out for a shinobi with snake-like qualities. I remember that my mother always compared the Monster to a snake and it wasn't just cause of his cold heart."

Sakura nodded. "I will. Thank you."

"I like you and Naruto and Sasuke," Manami admitted. "I think we can be friends one day. But Sasuke has so much in common with Gaara. It's in their eyes. I'm not really worried about the Monster taking Sasuke. I worried that Sasuke will go to the Monster."

Sakura's eyes widened and she looked over at the Uchiha. "He wouldn't."

"Are you sure?" Manami asked. Her eyes seemed held doubt and a knowledge that terrified Sakura. Manami had no memory but she knew people. She knew their hearts and minds like Sasuke knew fighting or Naruto knew ramen.

Sakura shook her head. "No. I'm not." She took a deep breath and met Manami's eyes. "Don't worry. I'll make sure no snakes get near Sasuke."

"Watch out for the one who summons the snakes. He's the one you need to worry about." Manami hesitated then said. "I have a vague memory of the Monster bitting someone, and it did something to them. Bound them to him in some way. Be careful, Sakura. I...I wish I could tell you more."

Sakura smiled and took Manami's hand in hers. "Don't worry. You've done enough just warning me. Thank you. I know this wasn't easy because you're afraid. So thank you so much for telling me."

Manami nodded and rushed over to Baki. She just hoped that she'd been right to tell them. The Monster had his eyes on Sasuke Uchiha and no one could stop him. Manami shook her head. No. She wouldn't think like that. She couldn't let this fear rule her life. Sakura loved Sasuke, and Manami had heard from Temari that nothing was stronger. The wind mistress was very practical, but even she admitted that someone protecting someone else that mattered was much harder to beat than those that weren't. Manami looked back at the forest and prayed for the safety of her new found friends and Gaara. That was really all she could do from here.

Baki looked at Manami's worried face and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Why don't we go to the tower and wait," he suggested.

Manami nodded. "Alright."

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As those of you who've read my stories before know, I hate it when Sasuke becomes a bad guy. So, I'm not going to do it. Anyways. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Now here's a question for you before I post the next one. Do you want to see what happens to Team 7 in the forest, or would you rather skip right to the end and get the short version of how they avoid Orochimaru? Either way works for me. Just to inform you, most of the fight scenes will be just like in the show with a few exceptions. Those being Sasuke doesn't get the curse mark so he's not going to go all purple and bad ass, and I let Team Guy chase off the sound nin since they'd been about to in the show anyway. Up to you if you want to read that or not. Let me know.


	7. The Preliminaries Begin

Alright. More people wanted me to skip the fight with Orochimaru, so that's what I did. Worked out either way. So without further ado, here's chapter 7.

Disclaimer: Almost forgot...i don't own Naruto...now we can get on with the story.

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Ch. 7: The Preliminaries Begin**

Manami was pacing across the floor impatiently as she and Baki waited on Gaara and his siblings to arrive. It shouldn't take the three sand genin long to finish the test. She knew that and with every passing second, became more worried about them. The Monster was in that forest with them. What if it found Gaara? Then Gaara would tear it apart, she snapped to that fearful part of her mind. She wished she wasn't such a coward. Every little thing scared her – strangers, being alone, needles, nightmares, a monster with no name. She hated it.

"Manami?"

She spun around when she heard Gaara's voice. He didn't have a scratch on him, but there was something in his eyes that was different than before. She couldn't quite put her finger on just what that difference was. It was almost like he was losing his grip on something. She did notice that Kankuro and Temari were keeping a careful distance between them and their brother. Something had spooked them badly this time.

Manami debated with herself for two seconds and decided surprising Gaara would be best. Shock always brought him out of his murderous moods, at least temporarily. She raced forward and hugged him. He stumbled a little as she got the intended result.

"I'm so glad you're alright. I kept thinking that you were in that forest with the Monster and all sorts of bad things could happen." She stepped back to give him a rueful smile. "My imagination was running wild with the possibilities."

"What are you doing here?" Gaara asked.

Manami examined his eyes and saw that the whatever had been there was almost gone now. Almost. Manami deemed that good enough for now. She smiled and relaxed. "Baki decided it'd be better for me to wait in the tower. That way I could be here to see that you were alright."

Gaara looked at Baki and then back at Manami. He closed his eyes and just began walking. Manami frowned in concern. Something was going on with him, and she wasn't sure what it was. Maybe the stress was getting to him. She shook her head. That wasn't it. Gaara didn't stress. Then it had to be the 'prove he was alive' thing. If so, there was nothing she could do for him. He wouldn't listen to her anymore that he would the others in that case. She settled back and decided not to stress too much about what was going through Gaara's head. That was one thing she could only deal with if it became and issue.

She opened the door to the room where she and Gaara would sleep. Well, she would sleep. Gaara would sit next to the window like he always did. For some reason, he passed the night watching the stars or the moon. She wondered over to that window and noted that Baki must have had a say in which rooms they got because this one had a window seat. Baki was well aware of Gaara's nightly habit.

'Now all I have to worry about it Sasuke and the others,' she thought. Manami stared out the window. She still felt bad that she hadn't been able to tell them more about the Monster. Not even a name. Manami had impressions from the dreams. From what she could tell, she hadn't known his name. She'd thought of him as The Monster and never called him anything else.

She did wonder what about the Monster and Kabuto terrified her so much. They'd never hurt her in the dreams. They were never even overly cruel. In fact, the only time she'd been injured by either of them was when she was running, and she had no idea why she ran in the first place. Then again, she only had three dreams to work with.

She sighed and shelved the concern along with the one about Gaara. They were things she could do nothing about so there was no point in worrying about them. That settled, Manami turned and walked over to the bed. It was late and she was exhausted. Between her worry for Gaara and Team 7, she'd worn herself out. She crawled under the covers and snuggled into the warmth of the bed. Manami faced the window because she knew that's where Gaara would be. She cracked and eye open and sure enough, there he was. Reassured, she yawned and drifted off to sleep.

_She stared at the little shovel looking thing. A spade, she'd been told. The Boy had given it to her along with several other tools, and then took her outside to a dirt covered area surrounded by high fences. She looked at him in confusion. What did he want her to do? When she asked, he told her that she would begin gardening. Another word she didn't know. The Boy must have had miles and miles of patients because he answered every question she asked him about the world she'd never seen until now. _

_It was her first day out of the cell she'd grown up in. She saw the sun and grass and trees and everything for the first time. Her mom had described all this to her and she discovered it had all been true. The sun was warm on her skin and the grass tickled her bare feet. Trees were taller than her and were so wide she couldn't wrap her arms around them. And there were so many colors in the world – blues and greens and reds and others she couldn't name. The Boy gave her an hour to enjoy the outside before taking her to the dirt area. Here nothing grew, and he was telling her that she would grow things there using something called chakra. She personally thought he was crazy, but if it kept her outside with all this light and color she'd try._

Manami woke up slowly as the sun fell on her face. It warmed her skin, just as it had in the dream. She sat up and looked around slowly. Unlike in the dream, she could name every color and every item in this room and what she saw out the window. She'd been younger in the dream – maybe about ten years old. Did ten year olds usually need so much explained to them as she had in the dream? The Boy, who she now knew was called Kabuto, had spent that entire hour telling her what things were called. 'Guess that what happens when one's entire life is spent in a small room with only a bathroom for a change in scene,' she thought as she looked towards the window.

She saw Gaara looking at her. She smiled and said, "Good morning, Gaara."

"Is something wrong?" he asked, his voice blank as usual.

Manami shook her head. "Not really. I had another dream."

She told him about it, just as she had all the others. He began to wonder if it was a good thing she didn't remember much about her past. Who would want to remember being a prisoner? He frowned when something she said sounded off.

"Are you sure he said you'd grow plants with chakra?"

She nodded. "That's what he said. Why?"

"I've never heard of anyone who could do that." Gaara thought about it long and hard. "Earth style jutsu's manipulate the ground not the plants. None of the other styles are even related to plants."

"Don't ask me. I don't remember anything else." She looked thoughtful. "He might have given an explanation but I woke up before it got to that part."

Gaara leaned back against the wall and tried to think of the solution. Nothing came to mind. Manami scooted out of bed and made her way to the bathroom for a shower. Gaara stared out the window. He kept hoping that something that would tell him why they wanted her working with plants using chakra. It didn't make any sense. Finally he decided they'd just have to wait for her next dream. Maybe it would contain more explanations.

Manami didn't have anymore new dreams during the next four days. Just variations of the ones she'd already had. Though the 'running dream' became the more common of them. Gaara noticed that this dream seemed to come more often when Manami was overly stressed. In this case, she was worried about Team 7. Over the last several days, other genin began arriving at the tower with their scrolls. Manami had kept an eye out for Team 7 and was starting to think something went seriously wrong. Her fear for her new friends only got worse when she noticed that Kabuto hadn't gotten to the tower yet either. She began fidgeting a lot more as her worry increased and she became jumpy. The 'running dream' started reoccurring every night.

"You need to calm down," he told her as he watched her pace back and forth.

"I know but I can't help it." She didn't even stop pacing long enough to look at him. "They only have a few hours before the time limit for the exam is up, and they're still not here." Now Manami turned to face him and wrung her hands together. "They wouldn't fail this test unless something went wrong. I told you that the Monster was after Sasuke. He must have gotten to them."

Gaara wished she would sit and relax. If she didn't calm down, she'd have the nightmare again. It was the only one she woke up screaming from. He'd never known fear until the first time he'd heard her scream. The first time, his heart stopped and he couldn't get to her fast enough. Gaara wasn't entirely sure why it scared him to hear her cry out, but it did without fail every time.

There was a knock on the door and Temari stepped in. "I just figured you'd want to know that Team 7 just arrived and they're all fine. Quite a few bumps and bruises but otherwise uninjured."

Manami rushed out to see for herself.

Gaara started to go after him but Temari stopped him. "Hold on, Gaara. The jonin have summoned us to the main room."

He looked at the door and nearly ignored the summons from the jonin. He changed his mind after a second of thought. Manami was in a building swarming with chunin and jonin. It didn't matter who the Monster was. Even he wouldn't go after her now. Not until she was alone. He'd stall until she got back to the room then go to the main room.

Manami found Team 7 together talking to their sensei. When they heard her rush up, they turned. Sakura smiled broadly as she rushed over to hug Manami tightly and she whispered, "Thank you, Manami. Thanks to you I saved him."

Relief swam through Manami. The Monster hadn't gotten Sasuke. She met the Uchiha's eyes over Sakura's shoulder. There was pride in them now that hadn't been there before. Pride that he was a part of this team with these people. She smiled at him and said, "I'm glad."

Sakura stepped back and said, "I owe you a debt for life."

"We all do," Naruto put in with his goofy grin. "If you hadn't warned us, Sakura wouldn't have been ready. Then we all would be a mess right now. Especially Sasuke. That snake guy tried to bite him."

"Sakura stopped it," Sasuke clarified when he saw the fear in Manami's eye. He wanted to be sure she knew that he hadn't gotten bit.

Manami couldn't help the shudder that ran through her. She wished she remembered just what the bite did to people. All she had was a foggy memory of someone crying out in pain and black marks covering their body.

"By the way, his name is Orochimaru," Sasuke told her.

She blinked. "Who?"

"The Monster."

"That's right," Sakura said as she remembered. "He told us his name."

Manami felt chills run down her arms. It had a name. The Monster now had an identity. She wanted Gaara. Why did she run out without him? Right. Because she had to make sure Team 7 was really alright.

"Easy, girl," Kakashi Hatake said calmly. "Names are supposed to make things less scary."

She nodded and took some deep breaths. Manami was getting to be an expert at working around fear. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"I want you to know," Kakashi said to her, "that we will protect Sasuke from Orochimaru."

"I know. That's why I told you what I knew," she replied while taking a few steps back. Now that she knew they were okay, she really wanted to get back to Gaara where she was safe and unafraid. She looked at Sasuke. "Just don't forget, Sasuke. Hold on to those that matter to you. If you don't..." Manami trailed off and looked away. She'd lost everything and couldn't even bring up the face of her mother. She didn't even know her mom's name. "Let's just say, it hurts to lose everything and know you'll never get it back."

"I know," he replied simply. The two exchanged a look of two people who knew the same suffering. Both had lost everything and could never get it back. Sasuke's voice was hard as steel when he said, "I won't lose it all again, Manami. Never. You have my word on that one."

She smiled. "And that is something worth working for." Manami took another step back. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to run back to Gaara now because I'm too afraid to stay here anymore."

Manami turned and took off back to Gaara. He was getting his shinobi gear when she opened the door. Curiously, she tilted her head and asked, "What's going on?"

"They summoned us all to the main arena. Team 7 was the last of the genin to pass the second exam." Gaara turned to her. "You're coming with me this time."

"I thought I couldn't be around for any of the exams?"

"Baki has to be there for this meeting and so do Temari and Kankuro." Gaara walked towards the door. "You are not to be left alone so you have to come. I don't care if it's against the rules or not."

Manami smiled and fell into step behind Gaara. She knew he wasn't kidding. He'd fight every jonin and chunin in this village if he had to in order to have his way. She hoped it wouldn't come to that. Things could get messy if it did, and she wasn't too fond of blood.

They walked into a large room with a huge statue against the wall opposite the door. In front of the statue was the Hokage along with the jonin trainers of each team that passed the second exam and a few chunin. The other genin stood in straight rows facing the hokage. There was a balcony along the two side walls. Gaara gestured for her to up there and wait. Manami did as told and looked down at the shinobi below.

The hokage began the talk by telling them what these exams were about. She smiled when Gaara said he could take anything anyone threw at him. Which was true enough, but still very arrogant of him. She loved that about him though. Manami blinked as that one word hit her. Love. Surely not. She looked at Gaara. Did she even know what that word meant? She couldn't remember anyone loving her or loving anyone else. Manami wasn't even sure her mother loved her.

Manami was brought back to the real world when someone poofed in between the genin and the hokage asking to speak. He was a chunin named Hayate and he would be proctor of the final exam. The genin grumbled a little when Hayate told them there would have to be a preliminary exam in order to shrink the number of genin taking the third exam. He asked if there was anyone who didn't think they were able to take the exam.

She watched one boy raise his hand. Kabuto walked away and paused at the door to look up at her. She flinched and took a step back. Despite that, she met his gaze and held it for two seconds. That was two seconds longer than she wanted to. She'd much rather turn and run. 'But if I did that every time I was afraid, I'd be running for the rest of my life,' she thought. Kabuto smirked and turned away, leaving the room. Manami let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

Hayate's voice penetrated her fear now that Kabuto was gone. "The names of the two fighters will appear on the screen." He looked at each genin. "Now let's begin."

Manami looked up and saw that a panel had been opened on the wall next to the statue, revealing a screen. The names ran through each contender before settling on two – Sasuke Uchiha and Yoroi Akado.

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That's it. Just so you know. I'll skim through most of the fights since none of them will really change. Only Sasuke's will have much difference and that's only because he doesn't have the curse mark. Besides, I stink at writing fights so it's better if I don't try too often.


	8. The Preliminaries

Finished. Now I skimmed through most of the fights and focused on what was going on in their heads for the most part. Hopefully I did a good enough job that no one's too bored with this one. Sorry but the prelimiaries do happen so they gotta go in here.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...now that's out of the way, on with the story.

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Ch. 8: The Preliminaries

The genin who were not fighting made their way up to the balconies. Manami smiled when Team Baki joined her and then looked back at the two fighters. Sasuke was still bruised and tired from the second exam which put him at a disadvantage. At least, she thought it did. Manami looked at Baki. "Sasuke is at the losing end right? I mean, he's tired and sore from the second exam still."

Baki nodded, impressed despite himself. The civilian was learning quickly how to assess a fight. Aparently she did more than watch them train. She'd been learning with his three genin. "Don't worry though. It takes more than that to take an Uchiha down."

Manami looked back at the fighters and hoped Baki was right. Sasuke looked ready to put up a fight. It was almost as if he was trying to prove something to everyone. Manami had a suspicion she knew what that was. He had recently gained new respect for his teammates and was proud to call them his partners. Now he wanted to show them and himself that being a part of that team had helped him. If he won this fight, it would mean he didn't need Orochimaru to become strong. He could do it with Team 7.

Hayate signaled the beginning of the fight. Sasuke made the first move. Manami was right. He was trying to prove something to himself. Sakura and Naruto had taken a big risk to protect him during the second exam. Orochimaru had even done something to Naruto that had knocked the blond out for hours. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he aimed a kick at Yoroi. It was Sakura that had really sacrificed for him. She'd knocked him out of the way when Orochimaru tried to bite him, and ran with him and Naruto. His pink-haired teammate had risked life and limb to get them away and probably saved their lives. If that wasn't enough, she'd stood between him and the sound genin when he'd been too tired to even stand. Sasuke's attacks became stronger and better. He would not let everything Sakura went through be in vain. He would prove to everyone, including himself, that he didn't need Orochimaru.

Yoroi lept at Sasuke, catching the Uchiha off guard. He grabbed Sasuke's forehead and began to absorb his chakra. Sasuke tried to fight but it wasn't working. Sakura's bloody face from the second exam filled his mind and his eyes snapped open. With a glare he kicked Yoroi off him. Too late though. Yoroi had drained his chakra to the point of no return. If Sasuke didn't come up with a plan soon he was a goner. Sasuke heard Naruto yelling at him and glanced up. His eyes landed on Rock Lee. Sasuke smirked.

Yoroi charged again and Sasuke turned to face him. He dodged every attack carefully, waiting for his moment. Then he saw it. Sasuke moved fast and dropped to the ground, mimicking Lee's attack from before the first exam. He kicked Yoroi into the air and jumped up so he was just below him. Sasuke began the attack he called the Lion's Barrage. With punches and kicks, he knocked Yoroi to the ground. Sasuke pushed himself to his feet with shaky muscles.

"The winner," Hayate said with a gesture to Sasuke, "is Sasuke Uchiha."

Sasuke grinned and sat. He would have fallen down entirely but Kakashi appeared behind him, allowing Sasuke to lean against him. Kakashi smiled a little. "Not bad, Sasuke."

The Copy Ninja helped Sasuke up to the the rest of their teammates. Naruto grinned as he said, "You look like the one that lost."

Sasuke glared at him and almost called him a loser again. With a sigh, he said, "Nevermind. Naruto, you better hope you come out of your fight in better condition. Otherwise I'll have to throw your words back at you."

Sakura shook her head at the two of them. Things would be okay for them now. She looked over to seem Manami give them a thumbs up in congratulations. Sakura waved and knew that it was thanks to Manami that things for Team 7 were okay.

Medics came in and took Yoroi out of the room to be treated. Almost immediately afterwards the next combatants were selected – Shino Aburame vs. Zaku Abumi. Manami watched two boys made their way down to the bottom floor.

The one with a leaf headband had brown, spiky hair. She couldn't see his face because he had dark glasses on and a white coat with a high collar that covered the lower half of his face. There was something calm about him that reminded her of Gaara – well, when the jinchuriki wasn't feeling murderous.

The other guy was from the sound village and his hair was a bit longer but still spiked up. Both his arms seemed to be broken. Manami guessed by Sasuke's smirk that he was the one that broke Zaku's arms. Considering what little she knew about the events in the second exam, she wasn't really surprised. It occurred to her that Zaku was fighting with two broken arms. How did he expect to win?

Zaku showed them that only one of his arms was actually broken soon after the fight began. Despite the surprise, Shino didn't even get a scratch on him from the attack. Manami wrinkled her nose when she saw bugs crawling on Shino and wondered what good those would do him. Then she saw they were everywhere. Shino explained what the parasites did and what Zaku's only real option was. Manami had to agree. Unless Zaku could move his other arm, he couldn't win. Just moments later he proved he could use both arms. Unfortunately for Zaku, Shin had already anticipated that move and had clogged the holes in Zaku's arms with bugs. Shino knocked Zaku out with one punch.

Manami shuddered. She hoped Shino never became their enemy. Naturally, he was announced as the winner. Manami looked up at Baki in confusion. "How did he do that?"

She hadn't been the only one that was curious. Just seconds after she asked, Rock Lee shouted, "The bugs are living inside of him?"

The civilian looked across the gap and saw Lee was talking to his teammate, Neji. She also noted that something weird was going on with Neji's eyes. Her focus changed as Guy explained about the insect tamers. Manami looked down at Shino and tilted her head. Okay, so bugs were good for something.

The screen began to scan through names again. This time it was Kankuro vs Misumi Tsurugi. Manami personally didn't have any doubts about Kankuro's skill but still. Misumi was on Kabuto's team and Kabuto worked for the Monster. She looked up at the puppet master. "Be careful, Kankuro, and good luck."

Kankuro waved her concern off as he made his way past her. "Don't worry so much, Manami. I'll be back up here before you know it."

The two fighters met in the center of the room and Hayate signaled the beginning of the fight. Misumi struck first with a punch that Kankuro easily blocked. Manami started to relax. Maybe Kankuro was right. She was worrying too much. Her muscles tightened right back up when Misumi's body began wrapping around Kankuro like a snake. It was almost as if Misumi didn't have bones. Manami nearly screamed when she heard the snap. The Kankuro that Misumi had a hold of changed into a puppet and the real Kankuro came out of the mummy wrapped in bandages. The puppet wrapped around Misumi forcing him to quit.

Manami let out a relieved breath after Kankuro's win. Everything was okay. She wanted to pound Kankuro for scarring her like that, but it was still okay because he wasn't hurt. Manami made her way over to the bathroom to splash some water on her face. She paused in the doorway when she heard someone talking to Sakura. A blond leaf kunoichi was telling Sakura that she couldn't win and it would be best if she just quit. Manami's eyes narrowed.

"That's not true."

Both kunoichi turned to face Manami. She walked forward and turned on a sink. The cool water felt good on her face as she splashed a little onto it. Manami looked at the two of them and said, "If she made it this far, then she's got the same chance as everyone else."

Sakura thought about the second test and what she went through. She reached up and racked a finger through her now short pink hair. Sasuke and Naruto had both been too drained to fight after Orochimaru's attack. She'd saved Sasuke from the bite and managed – only because something distracted him – to escape Orochimaru. Then sound nin had attacked them. Naruto was out cold, and Sasuke could barely stand. She'd been the only one who could fight, and so she fought hard to protect her team.

"You're right," she agreed. Her eyes moved to Ino. "I won't quit. Not ever. In fact, I can't wait." Sakura walked towards the door. Manami smiled and followed her.

Just as they got into the main room just as the screen selected the next two fighters. Sakura Haruno vs. Ino Yamanaka. Manami waved to Sakura and wished her good luck. With that, she returned to the second level where Gaara stood. She watched Sakura's fight with interest. There were a lot of feelings in the ring now. The tensions between the two kunoichi were very high and they didn't seem to be going anywhere. Ino was taking it easy to her. Sakura seemed to notice the same thing and pushed Ino's buttons. She wouldn't have Ino pulling her punches. Sakura moved her headband to her forehead and Ino understood. The blond kunoichi mimicked the motion and placed her own headband on her forehead.

After that, the fighting between them became intense. Neither of them showed any signs of weakening. To Manami's eye, they seemed perfectly matched. For a brief moment, Ino did something to Sakura that had made everyone believe the battle was over. Sakura seemed to overcome whatever it was after Sasuke and Naruto shouted at her. They were both now out of chakra and still they didn't give up. The two charged at each other and with one final punch, the match was over. The two knocked each other out.

"Well, that was an interesting fight," Manami said to no one in particular.

Gaara glanced at her then at the two kunoichi in the ring. "Maybe."

She saw Sasuke start to jump down to Sakura but Kakashi stopped him. The Uchiha was still weak from his fight and the second exam. Instead, Sakura's sensei went down and retrieved her just as Ino's sensei got down to get her. Manami smiled as both Sakura's and Ino's team crowded them two of them the moment the senseis put them down.

Manami heard the the screen begin to run through names again. She glanced up. Temari vs Tenten. The wind mistress smirked. "Now it's my turn."

"Good luck, Temari," Manami said with a warm smile.

"Don't need it. I make my own luck." Temari turned and walked down the stairs. She glanced over her shoulder with a grin. "Thanks anyway, Manami."

Temari and Tenten prepared to fight. Manami watched as Temari won with ease, and shook her head when she threw Tenten across the arena. Lee caught his teammate and tried to attack the wind mistress for her treatment of his teammate. Personally, Manami half hoped he'd land the kick. Temari was her friend and all but just tossing aside someone could never be right.

"Temari, get back up here. The match is over and you won," Gaara ordered without much concern for what she did. He more interested in keeping them from getting kicked out by fighting an unauthorized battle with Lee. "Stop wasting time with that idiot."

Lee glared up at Gaara. His sensei placed a hand on Lee's shoulder to calm him down. Guy did take great delight in reminding the sand nin that they didn't know what Lee was capable of yet. "Remember, he hasn't fought yet."

Manami looked up at Gaara and placed a hand on his when she saw the annoyance flash through them. Despite her touch, his fist clenched. 'Not good,' Manami thought. 'Usually he calms down when I touch him.' She fought back the worry. Slowly, Gaara had been getting more and more murderous. It was also getting harder and harder for her to calm him down. She was starting to think that it was only a matter of time before he exploded.

"Gaara," she started, but before she could say anything, the proctor announced the next match. Her concerns would just have to wait.

The next battle was a Shikamaru vs Kin Tsuchi. Manami tilted her head as the battle went on below her. If she had to guess, she'd say Shikamaru would win. Even when it looked like he was losing, she could see the wheels turning in his eyes. He was still working and thinking up a solution to win. Much like Temari did in a battle she wasn't sure how to fight. She was right. He won without trouble. Manami couldn't help the small chuckle at how he won. Knocking her out had been a brilliant move on his part.

"The leaf genin are pretty good, aren't they?" she commented absently as they waited for the next match to begin. Kiba vs Naruto.

"I guess so," Kankuro said with a shrug. "We're better."

Manami looked up at him then over at Gaara. "I don't think so." She looked across the floor and saw one of the leaf kunoichi watching Naruto. Manami's eyes widened and she smiled. "Well, well. Looks like somebody has an admirer."

The girl suddenly looked worried. Manami glanced down and saw that Naruto had been knocked down. How had that happened so fast? No way. Naruto was too stubborn to go down so fast and easily. She wasn't the only one that thought so. No one on his team looked worried. Sasuke was smirking. Sakura had a grin on her face. Kakashi watched calmly as if Naruto hadn't lost yet. They were all right. Naruto stood up and prepared to fight some more.

"I'm not done yet," he told Kiba. Not by a long shot. "Don't underestimate me."

Kiba attacked again and this time he used smoke bombs. They didn't help him any. Naruto swapped and used a transformation to turn into Akamaru. Naruto was proving to be a stronger opponent than anyone but his team had given him credit for.

"He'll win," Manami commented as she watch. "Naruto's too determined to lose."

"He's certainly interesting," Kankuro replied.

Kiba took something and gave the same thing to Akamaru. The puppy then transformed into another Kiba. The two began to attack Naruto ferociously. Manami looked up at Naruto's team. They still didn't look worried, so she relaxed. Naruto wasn't beat. Not until his team worried. Kiba began to laugh, telling Naruto he was weak and could never accomplish his dream.

"That's not true," Manami whispered. A little louder she said, "That's not ture."

"Get up, Naruto," Sasuke snapped out. "You can't lose like this."

"On your feet," Sakura shouted.

Naruto got to his feet and let everyone know that his spirit was still as strong as every when he said, "I will be Hokage, because I'm top dog around here."

Manami grinned. This fight had just begun. Naruto proved it by getting back up after another attack. Then there was another smoke screen. It cleared and Naruto was still standing. Then another screen of smoke. Manami wondered why they kept using the same attack. The more you use it the more an attack was used the less likely it would work again. When the smoke cleared, everyone saw three Kibas. Manami smiled. A very good trick. Kiba hit one he thought was Naruto but it transformed into the dog. Then he turned and punched the other Kiba and that too transformed into the dog. Turned out Kiba was right the first time. Naruto transformed back into himself and kicked Kiba. Naruto wasn't worried at all. He unveiled a new technique he adapted form Sasuke's Lion's barrage, knocking Kiba out cold.

Naruto stumbled a little. He would have fallen but Sasuke appeared next to him and held up up. With a smirk, the Uchiha said, "You won but you look like the loser. That was my technique too."

Naruto glared. "Throwing my words back at me and it was only partially yours."

"Told you I would." Sasuke helped Naruto up to the second level. "By the way. Not bad...Loser."

The blond gave his trademark grin. That meant something coming from Sasuke. Naruto would never forget this moment. He'd won his first battle, showing everyone he was no longer the loser. Sasuke had congratulated him. Not only that, but everyone had seen him win. This day couldn't get better.

"Good job, Naruto," Manami called out with a wave. She looked up at the screen and saw the next fight. Hinata Hyuga vs Neji Hyuga. So the girl who likes Naruto is called Hinata. Manami smiled, 'I guess I'll cheer for her. Anyone who likes Naruto is okay by me.'

"Neji will win," Gaara stated as if reading her mind.

Manami looked at him. "I know. But I can still cheer for her."

"Why bother?"

"Because everyone needs to be cheered for occasionally, Gaara. It reminds us we're not alone." Manami looked down at Hinata. "And that someone believes in us. That girl, she needs someone to believe in her because she had trouble with that herself."

Gaara didn't doubt her words. No one read people better than Manami. She didn't know the answers to the who and why for herself, so she spent a great deal of time watching others to get those answers from them. He'd noticed that Manami never asked for another person's name. She asked them who they were. They assumed she meant their name, when in reality she meant more than that. The name was only part of it. Gaara looked down at the Hyugas.

The fight began with Neji telling Hinata she couldn't win. He activated his byakugan and continued to twist Hinata's fear around. Manami hated him instantly for that. She knew fear so well. Kankuro had said it before, she wasn't hard to scare. That someone, anyone, would use fear to mess with someone's head. Besides, he was wrong. People could change. She no longer ran at the drop of hat after all, and she had in the beginning. She ran from everything that scared her, but today she proved that she wasn't like that. Manami had looked at Kabuto and hadn't run. Even civilians could have their victories.

Naruto was just as annoyed with Neji's words. He slammed a fist on the rail and shouted, "Who gave you the right to tell her what she can or can't be. Go on, Hinata, show this guy he's wrong."

Hinata closed her eyes and began making hand signs. Manami smiled. Naruto's words had put some spine in Hinata. The fight truly began then. Hinata seemed to give as good as she took. Things took a turn for the worst when Neji showed everyone he could see the chakra points in a person's body and turn off the chakra flow. Hinata fell for a moment but forced herself to get back up. She got up every time she was knocked down.

Manami looked up at Naruto and saw that he was completely clueless about Hinata's feelings for him. She smiled a little. Maybe she'd tell Sakura. The pink haired kunoichi would be more than happy to play matchmaker. Naruto needed a quiet person like Hinata to balance out his loud attitude. Besides, Hinata saw him and – Manami was willing to bet – had always seen him.

She looked down when Naruto's eyes filled with worry. Hinata had fallen and was unable to get back up. The match was over. Neji had won. Manami wished it could be different, but she'd known this would happen. Hinata still deserved some credit. She had managed to prove to everyone that she was just a little stronger now. Like everyone else, Manami watched in surprise as Hinata stood back up. She said a few things to anger Neji. Her cousin attacked her in a rage, but the leaf jonin stepped in to stop the fight.

Hinata fell again and Naruto jumped down to check on her. Manami watched in concern. "Please let her be okay," Manami whispered.

"You don't even know her," Temari pointed out.

"I know her," Manami replied quietly as she watched them carry Hinata out on a stretcher. "I see her in the mirror. Someone who's afraid and unsure of themselves. Someone who's only trying to make themselves better than everyone, even they themselves, believe they are. Someone who is trying their best for the one person who matters to them."

Temari looked at Manami in shock then down at the group below. Who would have thought Manami would relate to a girl she'd never even seen before? Then again Manami was still finding out who she was.

The screen ran through the names of the genin until landing on the next match. Choji vs Dosu. The last of the sound nin would be up next. The fight was over with quickly as Dosu defeated Choji. The ring was vacated. No one bothered with the screen. There were only two fighters left. Manami looked at Gaara with worry. He never managed to keep control during a fight no matter what anyone did. At least, that's what Kankuro and Temari were always telling her. Manami hoped they were wrong, because the next fight was Gaara vs Lee.

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That's it. Hope you enjoyed, if you did feel free to let me know in a review. If you didn't you can tell me that too, but at least be constructive about it so that I know what to fix for future chapters (if the problem is fixable anyway). :) Until next time.


	9. Attack on Konoha

Here's the next chapter. I decided to go ahead and put it up since the last one was so similar to the show (struck me as a little boring). Figured I owed you guys a quick chapter for that one.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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Ch. 9: The Attack on Konoha  
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Manami reached out and placed a hand on Gaara's arm. He glanced down at her. She gave a shaky smile and said, "Becareful, okay? I need you."

"I can't be hurt."

"Everyone can be hurt, Gaara," she disagreed. "It's just a matter of how you get hurt." Manami tilted her head a little. "You know that better than anyone. People hurt you all the time without ever laying a finger on you."

Gaara's eyes narrowed and he disappeared in a swirl of sand. Manami sighed. He was in the 'I'm not listening' mood. Oh well. He reappeared in the ring, ready to fight. Manami noted that Kankuro was walking away saying something about recon. Since he was heading over to the area where Team 7 was standing, she decided to go with him and visit. Manami shook her head as he talked with Naruto and got insulted.

"What did you expect?" she asked Kankuro. "You attacked a kid in front of him and knocked him down." Manami smiled at Naruto. "Don't worry about Kankuro. He's just a jerk sometimes. How are you doing, Naruto?"

"Fine I guess." He looked down at the ring.

Manami and Kankuro followed his gaze. Gaara and Lee were squaring off now, waiting for the go signal. Kankuro leaned back on his heels as he said, "I don't know what moves that kid has, but he doesn't stand a chance against Gaara."

"Wrong," Naruto disagreed. He'd seen Lee fight, knew Lee was stronger than Kankuro was giving him credit for.

At the go signal, Lee attack. His kicked was blocked by the sand coming from Gaara's gourd. That didn't stop Lee. He kept attacking, trying to fight his way past the sand. Manami shook her head. It wouldn't work. He wasn't fast enough. Manami looked up at Kankuro as he explained to Naruto that Gaara wasn't controlling the sand. She looked back down when she heard the sand begin to shift. Gaara had gone on the offensive. In little time he knocked Lee's feet out from under him. Lee jumped out of the way just in time and landed on the top of the stature.

At a signal from his sensei, Lee began to remove leg weights. Manami jumped in surprise when they hit the ground and created a crater. She said with wide eyes, "How in the world did he move with all that weight on his legs?"

No one had an answer for her. It didn't matter. Now that those weights were off, Lee was faster than ever. He moved so fast, Manami couldn't keep up with him. One moment he was in one spot, the next he was somewhere else. She could only stare in shock as he made Gaara bleed for the first time. This could not be good for Lee. Gaara wouldn't have the tolerance for pain the most had simply because he'd never felt it before. He was bound to overreact. Lee didn't stop with one hit. He got Gaara again with a punch, knocking Gaara to the ground.

"Gaara," she whispered in fear. That fear increased when Gaara stood and she saw his eyes. He was losing stability in his mind. Things were going to get ugly soon, and there was nothing she could do. "Please, no. I can't lose him."

Lee used the primary lotus to bring Gaara down. Manami winced as they crashed to the ground. It wasn't over. She's seen Gaara's substitution with the sand clone. The shell of the sand clone fell apart and the real Gaara rose from the sand. That crazy look was still in his eyes. Manami's fear grew to what could only be called a panic. Gaara attack, but Lee was still weak from the lotus and couldn't run. Manami couldn't stand to watch. She covered her face with her hands.

Her eyes snapped open again when she heard Kankuro say, "What?"

She looked at the fight and saw that Lee was standing again. The air around him seemed to shimmer, and the color of his skin changed. Manami blinked but sure enough, his chakra was becoming visible. When Lee finally moved, he was faster than ever. He was so fast, he destroyed the ground as he ran. Gaara was knocked upwards. Another trace of fear raced through Manami's blood. Gaara was being hurt. Her eyes widened and her breath began to coming in pants. Gaara's sand couldn't keep up. She felt her heart pounding in her chest. Gaara's armor was cracking. Manami gripped the railing until her knuckles turned white. Gaara.

Manami didn't see what happened. One moment they were both falling, the next Gaara was lying on the ground. She stared at the area where Gaara had fallen and saw he was alright. Weak and injured, but still alive. She still didn't feel any relief. This was where things got ugly for Lee. She was right. Gaara directed the sand to go after Lee, who had nothing left in him. With ease the sand grabbed Lee's left leg and arm, crushing them. Lee fell unconscious and still the sand went after the leaf genin.

"Manami, do something," Kankuro ordered her.

"What?" she demanded. What was she, a civilian, supposed to do? Manami looked at Gaara. The look in his eyes was terrible even to her, but she knew he wasn't a monster. Tears made their way down her face. He wasn't a monster. She couldn't let him prove everyone right, because she knew they were wrong. He wasn't a monster. Without thinking about it, Manami drew in a breath and shouted the only thing she could think of. "Gaara!"

Gaara's eyes widened and darted to her. Manami, his fogged mind managed. She's crying. The sand hesitated and slowed it's progression. Just seconds later, Guy jumped in. The moment he cut through the sand, Guy knew the boy had already stopped the attack. Still, he kept his eye on Gaara. He would not let Lee die.

Manami let out a relieved breath. It was okay. Everything was okay. Gaara grabbed his head and Manami ran down the stairs. She heard Gaara ask why Guy had saved him. As she ran by, Guy said, "Because he's my student and precious to me."

Gaara stood and the gourd began to form again. Manami didn't wait. She crashed into him and buried her face in his shoulder. Gaara looked down at her. This civilian had reached him when nothing else could. Just what else could she do to him? He placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder. She was shaking. Gaara's hand clenched as he realized he'd scared her. He didn't know how he felt about the fact that it mattered to him that he scared her.

"I quit," he said at last and, taking Manami with him, made his way to the stairs. Manami let him pull her along. She'd let him do whatever he wanted if he never lost it like that again. Ever.

The gasps had them looking back and Manami managed a small almost sad smile. Lee was standing again. His entire body shook with the effort. Guy started to tell him it was okay, and that was when they realized Lee was unconscious. Now that took a great deal of will power. Manami had to give Lee that.

She took Gaara's hand. "Come on, Gaara. It's over."

The proctor agreed. "And with that match, the preliminaries are now finished."

Manami smiled. They'd finally finished. The hokage began to give the five finalist the details of the finals. They would be given a month to prepare and rest. Manami wondered what Gaara would do with that month. She sat back and waited for the selections to finished. The tournament matching was decided and they were dismissed.

Mamani walked out with Team Baki without saying anything. Manami stood and followed him through the village and back to their rooms. After that, days seemed to pass by in which absolutely nothing happened. Manami finally managed to relax, and since Gaara didn't want to leave their rooms, she went out with Kankuro and Temari. Everyday she asked Gaara is she wanted to come with them. He refused every time. Manami got the impression that he was confused by something. If he slept, he'd be having nightmares.

It wasn't until the day before the finals, that she found out just how lost he was. She was talking with Kankuro and Temari when Baki banged on the door and informed them Gaara was missing. Manami tried not to panic, but it was difficult. In his current emotional state, Gaara would not be in complete control. Temari told her it was because he was dealing with emotions he'd never felt before, partially because Manami was here.

They split up to search for him. Manami, followed some inner instinct that led her to the hospital. Then she heard him speaking and he sounded so cold. Gaara was in one of those moods again. Manami wished she knew how to get rid of them all together. She began to actually hear what he was saying.

"I was born a monster," Gaara told her simply.

She heard Shikamaru say, "Your dad must have loved you a lot to put that thing in you."

"Love," Gaara said and there was almost a scoff in his voice. As if he even knew how to love. "Don't judge me by your standards. The only emotional tie I have with my family is hate."

Manami winced. She knew it was true and hated the Kazekage for it. This was his fault. If he'd been more worried about his son and less worried about strength, Gaara wouldn't be so miserable now. She listened as Gaara told them the rest of the story and her fist clenched. How could the Kazekage treat his son this way? She listened to him tell Shikamaru how he'd lost his purpose, and how he'd found a new purpose. Her heart broke with his next words.

"I live only for myself, I love only myself." He sounded so sure and yet... To Manami it sounded almost as if he was trying to convince himself as much as he was Shikamaru. Gaara wasn't finished. His words echoed in her mind as he told them, "As it was the death of my mother that gave me live, it is the death of others that sustains me that makes me almost happy to be alive. And there's no end to it."

Manami was shaking a little. It was one thing to hear this from Temari, and another to hear Gaara say it himself. For a moment, she wondered if she was the reason he was so determined to prove that he was the monster everyone believed him to be. His actions towards here had been anything but monstrous. She heard someone take a step back and Shikamaru snapped out, "Where are you going, Naruto?"

Sand shifted. Manami shook herself out of her thoughts. There would be time for that later. Right now she had to help Shikamaru and Naruto if she could. What if Gaara didn't listen? She shook her head, she couldnt' think like that. Manami opened the door and stepped into the room.

"Gaara," she called out and managed a small smile. Manami chose to act like she hadn't heard a thing. "There you are."

She allowed her eyes to scan around and take in the scene. Shikamaru and Naruto stood there with fear in every inch of their bodies. Sand was covering the floor and hovering in the air. Looks like she'd come just in time. She looked at Gaara in confusion. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," he replied. The sand began to go back into the gourd.

She looked at Naruto and Shikamaru with a smile. "It's good to see the two of you again."

"Yeah. Hi, Manami," Naruto greeted her.

"Hi. Do I know you?" Shikamaru asked her as he blinked at her.

"We haven't actually met." Manami took a few more steps into the room and held out her hand. "My name is Manami. I came here with Gaara and the others."

Shikamaru took her offered hand. This was becoming a very strange day. First the sand genin attacks them and nearly kills them. Now this girl was cheerfully greeting him like it hadn't happened. Manami seemed to know it was strange because she winked at him.

She turned her attention back to Gaara. "Well, Baki is looking for you. We'd better get back."

"Whatever," he growled and walked towards the door.

Once they were outside. Manami kept her eyes on the ground and her voice was quiet as she asked, "Gaara, do you really believe no one cares about you?"

He looked at her. "Yes."

"You're wrong." She looked up at him now. "I care about you."

Gaara couldn't think of anything to say so he said nothing. Tomorrow, the fight would begin. He was a little worried about Manami being here but he was sure his siblings could watch her. His eyes narrowed. If they didn't he would rip them apart. Gaara glared. What was he thinking? Manami shouldn't matter. He lived for himself and loved only himself. That was one thing he couldn't forget. Monsters weren't allowed to care about anyone else.

The next morning, they wall gathered in the arena. Manami noted that Sasuke was late and wondered about that for a moment. Her eyes moved to the seats filling the arena seats. She looked around for an empty place to sit and watch the fights. It was so crowded and there were so many strangers. She trembled a little and she had to wipe her palms on her dress. Her nerves were really starting to get the better of her. She turned when someone called her name.

"Hey, Manami," Sakura called again with a wave. "Come over here and sit with me and Ino."

Manami made her way over and took a spot next to Sakura. "Thanks. I was starting to get really shaky."

"No problem." Sakura looked at the arena. "I hope Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei hurry up."

"The Monster hasn't tried to get Sasuke again, has he?" Manami asked with concern.

Sakura shook her head. "No. Kakashi-sensei said that he was taking Sasuke someplace to train where no one could find him." She looked at Manami with a smile. "I should have known they'd be late. Kakashi is always late."

Manami chuckled. Her attention turned back to the ring below. The first fight was just starting. Everyone but Sakura and Manami was surprised when Naruto beat the genius of the Hyuga clan. Naruto had just proven to everyone that he had grown a great deal. He'd said it once – never count him out – and now everyone believed him. Not only that but Neji learned a lesson too. Manami could see it in his eyes. He was starting to see what was wrong with his fate theory. Good. She hated the idea of fate, because then she'd have to ask what kind of fate a girl without a memory could have. How could one have a fate if one didn't even know where one came from?

Luckily for Sasuke, the Hokage chose to postpone the match which moved them straight to Kankuro's match. To Manami's surprise, he forfeited. Why did he do that, she wondered. It wasn't like Kankuro to give up without even trying. Something was going on here she didn't know about. She thought about it but nothing came to her.

Eventually dismissed it for the moment, and she turned watched Temari fight Shikamaru. Temari won but only because Shikamaru gave up when he ran out of chakra. Manami sat back with a grin. So Temari wasn't the best strategist after all. Things were getting very interesting.

With that match over, everyone waited hoping Sasuke would show up before the time ran out. They were in luck. He showed up just as they were about to announce his disqualification. Manami heard Sakura let out a relieved breath and then grumble that she was going to pound those two for worrying her. Manami looked at her friend with a wide grin. Sakura had quite a temper on her.

Sakura saw the grin and gave a sheepish smile. Her eyes moved back to the arena. She pointed as she said, "Look, Manami. There's Gaara."

Manami looked down at him. She sighed. The look was back. It seemed she calmed him down only as long as she was near him. The moment she was too far away to talk to him he went all crazy again. She hoped this wouldn't be a repeat of Lee's battle with Gaara. When Gaara grabbed his head, Manami sat forward a little. It was Shukaku. 'Please be careful,' she begged silently. 'Gaara.'

The fight between Sasuke and Gaara started out with Sasuke winning. Manami knew that wouldn't last. After the battle with Lee, Gaara would have prepared to taijutsu this time. Sure enough. Gaara formed a cocoon of sand around his body. There was no opening for Sasuke to hit him in anymore. When the Uchiha tried, the sand formed spikes that stabbed him in several places. She saw Gaara form the third eye above the ball of sand. What was Gaara doing? She'd never seen him do anything like this during his training. Manami stood. She had to get to him.

Manami was surprised to see Kakashi and Guy standing next tot hem. She'd been so absorbed with the fight she hadn't noticed them come up. Her eyes trailed to Naruto and Shikamaru. They were out of breath and looked like they'd seen a ghost. Manami knew who that ghost was. Gaara. Now she really had to get to him. A strange sound reached her ears and she looked back at the ring. Sasuke was charging at Gaara with a lighting attack. Manami suppressed the urge to scream and ran for the stairs. She had to get to Gaara.

Sakura stood when Manami ran. "Manami, wait?"

She didn't wait. Manami didn't even listen to Sakura. She'd just reached the door when she heard Gaara scream in agony. Gaara, she thought in concern. She stood at the doorway to the ring and just stared across the arena at the ball of sand. Gaara was hurt. The ball of sand cracked and fell away. Manami's eyes widened. Gaara was holding his shoulder and blood dripped between his finger. This was not good.

Manami looked up when something exploded. The Kazekage and the Hokage were under attack. Just seconds later she saw the Kazekage jump up with the hokage. Okay. So the Hokage was the one under attack. Manami looked over to see Gaara was still in pain. She ran out to him. The battle was obviously over. Baki and his siblings got there before she did. The proctor jumped in front of Sasuke to keep the sand nin from attacking him. Manami didn't care about any of that.

"Gaara," she cried out as she raced across the ring. Manami saw him look up at her, but he was either unable or unwilling to say anything. She slid to a stop next to him and looked at Kankuro and Temari with anger. "What is going on? What happened to him? Why are you all just standing here?"

Baki ignored her concern. In fact, he acted like she wasn't even there. "We have to get Gaara to play his part no matter what. You two take him and tend to his wound. When he recovers his chakra, bring him back."

Manami looked at Baki in shock. "What? You want him to keep fighting in this condition?" She turned to glare at the jonin. "It's not only his physical well being at stake here, Baki. His mind and emotions are out of balance."

"It doesn't matter," Baki told her with a cold look. "If he dies, then he dies. Gaara is nothing more than a monster that the sand village uses for it's own purposes."

She took a step back, then glared. "He's no monster," she told him between clenched teeth. "You are."

Baki looked at Kankuro and Temari. "Go."

"Right," they said in unison. Kankuro lifted Gaara and they vanished.

Manami spun around to stop them but it was too late. They'd already gone. How could they? How could any of them do this to Gaara? She turned back to Baki. For the first time, she wished she was a shinobi. Then she'd make them all pay for this. Hadn't Gaara suffered enough?

Baki had turned his attention to the proctor. The proctor told Sasuke to go after Gaara. When Baki tried to stop that, the proctor got in the way. Manami ran to Sasuke shouting, "Wait. Sasuke."

He paused and looked at her.

"Please. Take me too. I have to be sure Gaara's okay at the end of this. No one else cares about his well being. Please." She took his arm. "I'm begging you."

Sasuke almost said no. As much as he wanted to let her come and check on her friend, it would slow him down. Then he remembered how her voice had reached Gaara during the preliminaries. If she was there, he may not have to fight Gaara. Sasuke nodded. "Alright."

Manami smiled in relief and let Sasuke pick her up. She held on tightly as he ran. Even with her added weight, he was fast. Manami held on tightly. Sasuke caught up to them and set Manami down. She leaned against the tree to keep out of the way. Temari ordered Kankuro to keep going and prepared to fight Sasuke alone. Manami watched Kankuro nod and begin to run. A vague memory worked it's way to the surface as she watched Kankuro leave. The running thing, she knew how to do it. Manami didn't ask herself how she knew. She just focused and felt the chakra in her feet.

She ran after Kankuro and Gaara. Manami had to know what Kankuro was going to do with Gaara. She couldn't let him bring Gaara back to Konoha in his state. Even if his chakra returned to normal, Gaara's emotional and mental states were in turmoil. Between his feelings for her and the injury, he was lost and confused. If he went into a fight like that, he'd die. She didn't care what Baki or the Kazekage said. She wouldn't convince Kankuro to keep Gaara out of the fight. Manami knew she could do it because Kankuro cared about Gaara. Despite everything, he cared.

Manami tripped a little. She still wasn't used to the running thing. Her head jerked up when she caught a glimpse of Kankuro and Gaara. Almost there. She had to keep going. Something moved beside her. Sasuke had caught up to her. She gave him a worried look. He grinned. So, Temari was alright. That was good. 'Sorry, Temari, but Baki is wrong. I won't let him use Gaara this way.' Manami looked forward. 'You and Kankuro know that.' Some part of her wondered if Kankuro and Temari intended to obey Baki's orders to take Gaara back to Konoha. There was no telling for sure what the sand siblings would do. She couldn't take the chance.

Sasuke threw shuriken, forcing Kankuro to stop. Manami and Sasuke landed on the same branch. To Kankuro, she said, "Come on, Kankuro. You know this is wrong. Please, before more people get hurt. More importantly, before Gaara gets hurt."

"He'll be fine."

"I have no doubt that he'll recover physically, even if you succeed." Manami looked down. "But we both know that it's not his physical well being we should worry about. If Gaara changes and attacks Konoha, a little more of his soul will die. A little more of him will go away with each person he kills, until he really is the monster everyone believes him to be." She looked up at Kankuro. "Please. Don't let that happen."

He hesitated but then Temari showed up. The wind mistress looked at Manami with apologetic eyes. "You know we don't want to do this, Manami, but there's no choice. We have orders."

"Screw your orders. This is your brother's life," Manami shouted.

"A shinobi is a tool."

"Gaara never asked to be a shinobi," Manami was practically screaming now. "Your father made him one. The Kazekage forced Gaara into this life. None of you even asked him what he wanted."

"That's not fair, Manami," Kankuro snapped out.

"Neither is what Baki and the Kazekage are making Gaara do. Neither is what you're doing by making him recover only to fight again." Manami looked at Gaara's unconscious face. "I don't have to be fair."

Sasuke braced for a fight. Manami wasn't going to get through. He could tell that already. Kankuro handed Gaara to Temari and prepared to fight. Just as Sasuke and Kankuro were about to fight, a new voice called a halt to the fight. Manami looked over to see Shino Aburame, the bug guy. Shino said he'd take the fight.

Manami hesitated. Before following Sasuke she said, "Shino, be careful. Kankuro had poison on his puppets. Don't let him cut you."

He nodded. Manami turned to Kankuro. The puppet master seemed just as apologetic as Temari. Good. Maybe she'd forgive them when this was over and Gaara was safe again. Until then, let them feel guilty. She turned and raced after Sasuke. She was starting to get the hang of the running with chakra thing. Which was weird since she hadn't even known she had chakra. Manami looked forward. 'Hold on, Gaara. Please don't become what they want to be.' She knew she couldn't stand it if he became the monster. Not just for herself – after all Gaara was the only person she wasn't somewhat afraid of – but also for Gaara. He needed to maintain some humanity. Otherwise, he'd never be happy.

She slid to a stop when she saw Sasuke wasn't moving anymore. He was preparing to fight. Manami jumped up next to him and saw Gaara. Her eyes widened as fear and despair ripped through her. They were too late.

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There you have it. Hope you enjoyed.


	10. Letting Go

All done. Now we're getting out of the things that are similar to the anime. Hopefully that makes things much more interesting. The title to this one stinks I know. I couldn't come up with a better one.

Disclaimer: I really hate these things. I don't get the checks when people buy them so I obviously don't own Naruto so why do they insist I tell you guys. I mean, it's not like you don't know who owns them or anything like that. The owners name is in bold letter on all the mangas, but noooo. They still think I should tell you. Oh well, did I mention I don't own Naruto? Good. Now on with the story.

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Ch. 10: Letting Go  
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Manami could only stare at Gaara. The sand was forming some sort of claw on his arm and she could almost swear he had a tail now. What this Shukaku coming out? Had she already lost Gaara? Despite the glimpse of the monster over half his body, she still wasn't afraid of him. Manami was afraid _for _him. Big difference. Her eyes narrowed. She couldn't give up. Not yet. "Gaara!"

He turned to her and she saw that it wasn't Gaara looking at her anymore. Something else was in him and peering through Gaara's eyes at her. Whatever that something was, it seemed to recognize her. That could be a good thing. There was a brief hesitation before a dome of sand formed around her as if to protect her from what was coming. Manami beat on the wall. "Gaara, don't!"

She heard the fight begin outside the dome, but couldn't see anything. Manami continued to beat on the wall, trying to get out. Her fists began to bleed from the effort but she didn't care. It seemed like hours passed before the sand around her melted away. She looked around trying to figure out what she'd missed. Sakura was falling, and Sasuke caught her. The Uchiha was bleeding from his shoulder where something had pierced him. A little dog was standing next to them. Manami looked down and gasped.

She ran down to the ground and knelt next to Gaara. His eyes were open making her cry in relief. He was alive. A little beat up but alive. Gaara looked at her in confusion. "Why are you crying?"

"Because I thought you were going to die. I was so scared, Gaara. Don't ever do that to me again."

Manami wrapped her arms around herself and rocked back and forth. She heard something and looked over to see Naruto using his chin and legs to crawl over. Determination burned in his eyes with new strength. The blond began to speak to Gaara. She sat back and listened as her heart broke for the two of them. They were the same and yet had come out so differently. Sasuke landed next to Naruto and told him Sakura was alright.

"That's a relief," Naruto said before passing out at last.

Manami looked at Sasuke. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing much. Gaara lost it and turned into something...else. I don't know what it was." Sasuke grabbed his shoulder. "I was injured during the fight. Naruto and Sakura got here just in time." Sasuke started to walk towards Gaara to see how injured the sand nin was.

Kankuro and Temari landed on either side of Gaara to protect him. Manami looked at them with a glare. She was still mad at them. Gaara looked at the sky without really seeing it and said, "Enough."

His siblings looked at him in shock.

"It's over," Gaara told them.

Kankuro nodded and lifted Gaara up. "Alright, Gaara. Let's go home."

Manami let out a relieved breath. Okay so maybe she would forgive Gaara's siblings. Maybe. She stood and then fell right back down. Apparently the running thing had drained her. That shouldn't surprise her since she was only guessing at what she was doing. There were quite a few times when she'd used too much or too little chakra and nearly fell. Maybe she should practice more. Gaara could teach her how to use chakra when he was better.

Temari knelt next to Manami. "Look. I'm sorry. I know that you were right about Gaara but as shinobi we can't let that get in the way."

Manami looked at the wind mistress and sighed. "I know. But I'm not a shinobi so I can let it get in the way."

"I know." Temari grinned. "I'm counting on that to keep Gaara from pushing himself too much. We can't stop him, especially if ordered not to, but you can. To be honest, I wanted you to catch up to us and stop it."

"I understand, Temari." Manami held out her hand with a smile. "Still friends?"

Temari grabbed the offered hand and pulled Manami to her feet. The wind mistress supported her as she said, "Naturally."

Manami looked over her shoulder at Sasuke. "Take care of your team, Sasuke. They need you."

He nodded, "I will."

"Tell Sakura and Naruto I said I'd see them later."

With that, the sand siblings left with Manami. To their surprise, Gaara apologized to Temari and Kankuro on the way back to Suna. Manami grinned. It looked like all Gaara needed was for someone to beat some sense into him. Who'd have thought?

They arrived in Suna and took Gaara straight to the hospital. No one would treat him. Manami was so furious with them all she nearly screamed. Kankuro wasn't taking their refusal well at all. He was ready to beat them all to a pulp. Then she saw a familiar face approach them. It was the medic who'd treated her the day Gaara found her, Kai. He stood in front of them and said, "I'll tend to him."

"What? Kai, it's better for everyone if he just dies," one of the other medics stated.

"I can't do that." Kai looked at Manami. "By protecting her as he does, Gaara has proven there's more to him than a monster. At least, to me he has."

Manami smiled at him and would have hugged him if she hadn't been so tired. Kai led them into one of the hospital rooms. Kankuro lowered Gaara onto the bed them sat with an "oof". Temari lowered Manami into a chair and sat herself. Manami watched as Kai examined and tended to Gaara. She was so relieved he'd changed his mind about the jinchuriki. If he hadn't, Kankuro would have hurt the medics for denying his brother care, and Temari would have helped him.

"He'll be fine," Kai told them after he'd finished. "A few bruises and a single puncture wound on his shoulder is all the damage."

"Then why is he out like a light?" Manami asked curiously.

Kai looked at her and explained, "Using up a lot of chakra takes a physical toll. It's like...going running for a very long time. You're exhausted for using up the energy it takes to run that much."

She nodded in understanding. "So a little sleep and he'll be good as knew?"

The medic nodded. "I need to see to other patients. We've gotten a flood of them from the failed attack on Konoha."

"Baki?" Temari asked.

"He hasn't returned yet. Neither has a the Kazekage." Kai left the room to see to his other duties.

Manami leaned back against the chair. Kankuro and Temari left to get a report on the situation. Neither of them even bothered asking Manami is she wanted to come. Her eyes had barely left Gaara since Kai treated him. Over the next two days, Kankuro and Temari brought food to Manami and a change of clothes. Both would sit with their brother off and on as they could. The morning of what would have been the third day, Gaara woke up.

He opened his eyes slowly and looked around. Where was he? A hospital. Yes, the Suna Hospital. How had he gotten here? That's right. Kankuro had been carrying him. They must have brought him back here. Memories began to return slowly as Gaara's eyes scanned the room. There was someone sitting in the chair, he realized. It took a moment for his brain to process what he was seeing. Manami. It was Manami in the chair, and she was asleep.

Gaara pushed himself up and groaned a little as his stiff muscles objected to the movement. He stretched out then picked Manami up gently and put her on the bed. The effort tired him out again, so he sat in the chair to catch his breath. The fight with Naruto had really done a number on him, he thought absently as he rubbed at his shoulder. It was still soar from Sasuke's chidori. He felt the bandage and looked at it. Someone had tended to his wound. A medic. Even Temari and Kankuro couldn't have done this professional a job.

"So you're awake."

Gaara looked at the door and saw the medic called Kai.

Kai walked into the room. "Manami has been very worried about you."

The jinchuriki sat back and examined Kai. The medic had been rather hateful during their first meeting. Now Kai seemed calm and accepting of Suna's Monster. Gaara couldn't think of anything he'd done to change Kai's mind, so he was immediately suspicious.

"Why did you help me?"

The medic looked at Manami. "That girl had no one and you took her in. Not only that, you took care of her. A monster wouldn't have done that." Kai's eyes moved back to Gaara. "Manami loves you, and I don't think anyone could love a monster. Therefore, you must not be a monster."

Gaara shifted and winced when pain sang through him.

"Don't move too much yet." Kai walked over and checked Gaara's bandages. The bleeding had stopped entirely now and the wouldn't hadn't reopened. "You can probably go home now. I'd wait until Manami woke up. She hasn't left your side since the day they brought you here."

"How long ago was that?" Gaara wondered. It just occurred to him that he didn't know how much time had passed since he'd passed out.

"Kankuro said you've been out for the last four days. You've been in the hospital for two." Kai walked over and wrote that the bleeding has stopped on Gaara's chart. "This is the third morning, you've been here."

That explained why he was starving and in desperate need of water, Gaara thought. He debated on whether or not he had the strength to get water right now. Kai put the chart down then filled a glass with water. Gaara was surprised when the medic handed the glass to him. He took slow sips, letting the cool liquid soothe his burning throat.

"I have to finish my rounds," Kai told him. "I'll have someone bring you food."

Gaara nodded and watched him leave. The jinchiriki sat back with a sigh. There was a lot to think about now. Naruto was at the top of the list followed closely by Manami. He began with Naruto. The blond genin had known the same suffering he had and had come out so differently. Naruto fought for other people, while he fought for himself. The fight between them had been decided more than just who was stronger. It had also showed Gaara that he might have been wrong in his beliefs. Not only that, if Naruto could fight for others, why couldn't he?

This led him to Manami. Gaara looked over at her. She'd told him she cared about him. Kai believed she loved him. He remembered all to clearly how she'd shed tears for him and fought for him even though her enemy had been his siblings, though they had wanted her to win. Manami had not only told him he mattered to her, she'd proven it. Maybe he could begin changing himself with her. If he quit fighting the urge to protect her and just let himself care about her, it would a first step. She was only one person, but Naruto had been fighting for his two teammates. It would be a start.

Gaara stood and his muscles seemed to creak. After this, he would need at least a week to let his body recuperate. Gaara moved to the window to stare out at the world. His thoughts raced as he considered all the possibilities and solutions. His new path would take a great deal of time, effort, risk, and patience.

He was still standing by the window when Manami woke up. Gaara heard her move behind him and turned to face her. Manami's eyes focused on him. For about two heartbeats, she just stared at him. Then she launched herself off the bed and into him. Gaara caught her with ease with a pang of guilt for putting her through the last few days. That guild only intensified when he felt her shaking.

"I was so scared," she whispered.

"I'm alright, Manami," he told her and tried to figure out what he was supposed to do. It wasn't like he'd ever tried to comfort anyone before. Hell, he'd never even wanted to comfort anyone before. She pulled back and he was relieved to see she wasn't crying. "I want to talk to you and my siblings."

"About what?" she asked.

Before he could answer, Kankuro came into the room. Gaara knew something was wrong instantly. "What is it, Kankuro?"

"You're awake," Kankuro stated the obvious. He fidgeted when Gaara merely watched him and waited. Finally, he said, "It's the Kazekage. He's...Dad's dead, Gaara. Someone killed him and his guards."

Gaara looked down. "Orochimaru."

"That's what Baki thinks. It was Orochimaru masquerading as the Kazekage during the finals of the Chunin exams." Kankuro shifted uncomfortably again. Gaara had every reason to hate their father, but...still. "The funeral is tomorrow."

The jinchuriki nodded. "I'll be there."

Kankuro relaxed a little. "Okay. Good."

"I want to talk to you after the funeral," Gaara told his brother. "Temari and Manami too."

Kankuro nodded in agreement. Gaara looked back out the window. Everything could wait until he'd said good-bye to the man he'd both hated and loved. Things couldn't change, not really, until he'd let go of the past that had created him. Well, forgive it anyway. He'd never forget the treatment and assassination attempts, but he could forgive it with time. A lot of time. He'd start with his father.

Gaara and Manami went home and prepared for the next day. Early the following morning, The sand siblings and Manami went to Suna's graveyard dressed in black. Even Gaara had chosen the colors of mourning though a part of him wasn't sad. He wasn't entirely sure what he felt. Not yet anyway. Shinobi filled the area, standing with pride as they buried the fourth Kazekage. Gaara watched and tried to sort through his thoughts. All he could think was that he hated the man who'd been his father in blood alone. At the same time, he'd loved him. Gaara had spent so much time trying to please his father and always failed. Mentally, Gaara told his father, 'I hated you, because you hated me. I loved you because we shared blood and that meant something. I won't become the monster you thought I would be. I will become this village's protector.' Gaara looked up at the sky. 'And despite everything you did to me, Dad, I'm going to forgive you for it, because I won't hold in hate anymore.'

After the funeral, the siblings and Manami went to the cliff over looking Suna where Gaara told them his plans for the future.

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All done. Hope you enjoyed. Until next time.

I had one reviewer for this chapter ask if this was the last chapter. I just wanted to make it clear, no it's not. I have to at least finish Manami's story. Sorry for the confusion if anyone else wondered about that.


	11. Kazekage

Here it is. Don't really have anything to say...wait wait. I do. I hope the time changes don't confuse anyone. I tried to make it clear but it get's difficult after a while. Sorry if I failed miserably or anything like that.

Disclaimer: i own nothing, but you already knew that so why did I have to tell you? Answer: because someone just has to make me say it...their called lawyers...why do we need those guys anyways?

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**Ch. 11: Kazekage**

"I don't like it," Kankuro told his brother.

"We've been through this a thousand times," Gaara said on a sigh. He was really getting tired of this argument. They'd been having variations of it ever since his father's funeral, but Kankuro just wouldn't let it go.

"I know." The puppet master looked towards the village gates. His little brother was about to leave on a mission but this time neither of his siblings were going with him. Kankuro was worried about how the others on Gaara's team would react. "Gaara, you know they won't trust you."

"It'll be okay, Kankuro," Manami assured him. "Gaara knows what he's doing."

Manami was nothing if not true to her word. She's promised Gaara her absolute support so that's what he got. Personally, Kankuro thought she just didn't understand what was involved here. She wasn't a shinobi so she couldn't possibly understand what it was to put her life on the line for her village. Manami couldn't understand knowing that your team depended on you or that you depended on them. All she understood was that Gaara was going on a mission with people that were afraid of him.

"They'll either stick him with all the work or they'll too afraid to ask him for anything," Kankuro pointed out.

"I know what to expect, Kankuro," Gaara told his brother yet again. He'd said that every time they had this fight. "You've told me. Temari has told me. Even Baki has told me. It won't change my mind. The villagers will either change their minds or they won't. I intend to find out which."

Kankuro held up his hands. "Alright. Alright. Just...be careful Gaara."

Gaara nodded and continued walking towards the gate. Manami followed him as far as the gate. There she hugged him and echoed Kankuro's sentiment to be careful. Gaara formed a sand figurine of a wolf, a creature Manami had a certain fondness for. He handed it to her and said, "As long as this figurine is intact, I'm fine."

She smiled and hugged him again. "Thanks."

Manami took the wolf from him. It was small enough to fit in the palm of her hand and so realistic she half expected it to howl. She looked up as Gaara walked out the gate and didn't move until he was out of sight.

At last, Manami sighed and returned to the house she and Gaara lived in together. Kankuro and Temari had moved out shortly after the Kazekage's death. It had been difficult for them to stay in their father's house. Gaara especially had trouble with it. His father hadn't exactly given him fond memories of the house after all. But Gaara had forced himself to stay in it anyway. He wouldn't be chased out of his home for any reason. The other two had gone looking for places more suited to them. Temari had wanted to be closer to the village, seeing as their family home was on the outskirts of the village. While Kankuro had wanted a place where he could have a workshop to build puppets. The house was strangely quiet without the other two but that was okay. They got together for dinner at what was now Gaara's house every week.

Manami smiled a little then shoved all those thoughts out of her head for now. She spent the next half hour trying to decide where to put the wolf figurine. Finally, she settled on putting on the mantle. She'd see it every time she walked through the door. Perfect. Manami began humming a happy little tune as she started cleaning the kitchen. Actually, she needed to clean the whole house. She'd put it off to help Gaara with his plans.

He'd had a meeting with the council yesterday to convince them that he wouldn't kill the other shinobi if he was placed on their team. It'd taken several long hours of fast talking from Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. The council had even called Manami to speak up. She didn't know why they bothered. Everyone knew she wasn't afraid of him. If anyone would say he was a good guy it was her. She would have said that before the chunin exams. Either way, she told them Gaara wouldn't hurt any of the Suna shinobi providing they didn't betray Suna.

Manami paused and stared out the kitchen window. Someone was out their watching her at least. It felt like there was, but she didn't see anyone as she scanned the street outside. Manami shrugged it off as nerves. Without Gaara around she was much more jumpy. She continued washing dishes but her eyes kept moving to the window. Once she'd even thought she saw a shadow move on the roof of the building across the street. She nearly dropped the cup she'd been holding. Her heartbeat had picked up and fear worked its way up her spine. Manami forced herself to take a deep breath then let it out slowly. 'I really need to develop some backbone,' she thought as she placed the cup on the drying rack.

She finished the dishes and began wiping down counters. The cleaning did help soothe her. Kankuro constantly thought she was strange because she actually liked to clean. "It keeps me busy," she'd told him. That was true enough. Her hands were occupied while her mind was free to wonder. Sometimes, if she didn't want to think, she'd focus entirely on what she was doing. Like right now. She didn't want to think of what could be outside or if Gaara was hurt. Manami shook her head at herself. He'd just left and she was already worried about him.

"Focus on the task, Manami," she ordered herself.

She did focus for the rest of the day. By the time the sun had set, the kitchen was spotless. Manami would do one room a day until everything was absolutely clean. That way, she'd bee too busy to worry about Gaara or shadows out the kitchen window. Well, one room down. Manami climbed up the stairs to the bedroom. Tomorrow, she would clean the living room.

Manami had made it upstairs by the time Gaara had gotten home. He opened the door and looked around only to shake his head. The cleaning wasn't an unusual habit. She'd picked it up before the chunin exams and it had driven his father crazy several times. However, even the Kazekage hadn't been able to deny her that one comfort when Gaara was away. The jinchuriki made his way upstairs. He'd been gone five days which meant she'd finished the four room on the first floor and would be upstairs now in their room. Sure enough. He found her with a duster in hand and her back to him.

"Manami."

She turned to him and grinned. Dropping the duster, she ran to him. Gaara caught her and wondered if it would ever stop shocking him when she hugged him. At least he wasn't going stiff anymore. Maybe he was finally getting used to her. She let him go and smiled at him. His heart skipped a beat in surprise. Then again, maybe not.

"Welcome home, Gaara," she greeted cheerfully. "How was your mission?"

"A success," he told her simply. Manami had a theory that Gaara thought words were worth more than gold and that was why he didn't use many.

"That's good." She hesitated as she tried to think of how to word her next question. Finally she asked, "And were the other shinobi on your team...scared of you?"

"Yes."

"Oh. I guess it'll take more than one mission to prove you're not going to kill them, huh?"

He nodded and looked around. Now that he was here, would she finish cleaning? he wondered. He noticed the sand wolf sitting on the top of the dresser. She'd probably been bringing with her through every room that way she could keep an eye on it while she cleaned.

"When is you're next mission?" she asked and just once wished he would speak. Most of the time, she was fine with his silence, but he'd been gone for five days. That was five days without seeing or hearing him. Right now all she wanted was memorize his face again and hear his voice. She wanted to touch him but knew he wasn't used to it and would stiffen up.

"I get three days to rest and then leave again."

Manami tried not to sniffle. Only three days. She would have moaned if she didn't think Gaara would say she was insane. Worse, he might think she was weak. She'd rather die than let him think she was weak. If there was one thing she'd learned about shinobi, it was that they valued strength above all else. But it was so hard. He was only here for three days. Manami smiled at him and thought, 'I'll just have to deal with it.'

"So what do you want to do with your three days?" She knew he'd say train with his brother and sister, but the point was he'd _say_ it.

He didn't surprise her. "Train."

She laughed. Even his tone had been typical Gaara. "Gaara, I've missed you."

Manami did it again, he realized. She'd shocked him to his core. He tilted his head at her. No one had ever missed him before. What did he say to that anyway? For the first time he wished he knew more about socializing. That was something he never thought he'd want – social skills.

She didn't seem to expect him to say anything because she took his hand and led him to the kitchen. He watched begin to make something to eat as he relaxed for the first time in five days. It wouldn't be easy to earn Suna's trust but at least Manami would keep it from being unbearable. One person would always be ready to welcome him home.

Over the next several months, Gaara went on every mission requested of him without complaint. He would do whatever necessary to make sure his entire team made it back safe and the mission was a success. Slowly, one by one, the sand shinobi slowly stopped running just because Gaara looked at them. Some even started requesting him on their teams. The first time a shinobi requested Gaara, Manami cheered for him. Gaara had even smiled a little. Temari and Kankuro had both been relieved. It looked like Gaara had made a break threw.

A few months later that Manami had gotten every inch of the house cleaned. In fact, she'd cleaned it all multiple times. She finally had to admit that she needed a new hobby or she'd drive herself crazy. Or clean a hole through the house, whichever came first. Since she and Gaara needed to live someplace, she chose to find a hobby. Which was why she found herself standing outside the greenhouse were all the herbs used in Suna were grown. After her dream with Kabuto showing her how to garden as a child, she'd avoided the greenhouse like a plague. She'd been afraid that she'd do whatever it was Kabuto had been trying to get her to do in the dream. The idea that she was capable of something and didn't know what it was terrified her. Then again, everything but Gaara terrified her in some way and on some level.

"Well, I'm not going to get anywhere staying out here," she grumbled and made her way inside.

The air was warm and moist. Thousands of plants sprouted out of clay pots covering the area in varying shades of green. Manami hesitated at the door because she wasn't sure she'd be welcomed here anymore. The medics that tended to the plants were very touchy about who worked in here because most of these plants were used in medicines. Being in the desert made growing these plants very difficult so they were extremely careful with them.

"Manami, is that you?"

She turned and smiled a little. "Hello, Kai."

He walked over to her. "What brings you here?"

"I was hoping to help out in here again, if that's okay?" She looked around a bit nervously. Everyone was working tenderly with the plants and ignoring her. That was good. Maybe they wouldn't mind. To be honest, despite her fear of what Kabuto had thought her capable of, she loved working with the plants. Her fingers itched to dig into the dirt and place a new bud into the pot.

"Of course you can," Kai told her with a warm smile. "Do you know how?"

"Yes. I was shown how the last time I was here. Not only that, I think I did this before. In my other life." Manami had taken to calling the times she couldn't remember her 'other life'. In a way, that's exactly what it was. A life she'd lived that wasn't hers anymore.

"Well then, jump right in. If you need anything, just let me know."

"Thank you."

She did just that. So over the next few months, she'd worked in the greenhouse while Gaara was on missions. Manami discovered that gardening worked much better to keep her worries down than cleaning. The plants kept her full attention while she was working with them. The medics began to notice that any plant Manami worked with grew better than any others. Somehow they were healthier and grew faster. It was almost as if she somehow put life into them just by brushing a hand over them.

Whispers began roaming through the village that for the first time, the medical core wanted to hire someone who wasn't a medic or even a shinobi. However this was a disicion that couldn't be made by anyone but a Kazekage. This was a problem since, even though it had been a little more than a year, the council still hadn't selected a new kage. More whispers came as the council began brainstorming candidates for the position of Wind Shadow.

Manami of course heard the whispers and saw people looking at her. Now even gardening couldn't soothe her. She really wished Gaara would come back soon. Having everyone paying so much attention to her put her in panic mode. It reached the point where she didn't leave the greenhouse until dark and got there early in the morning so no one would see her come and go. During the day, she just didn't leave. Still the whispers continued.

Gaara returned from his latest mission to hear these whispers and felt his muscles tighten in anticipation. He hadn't expected the time for the next Kazekage to come so soon. The council had managed the village up to this point without any trouble and had been reluctant to replace the kage. He also heard the rumors about medical core wanting to have Manami be made and official worker in the greenhouse.

"You should go find her," Kankuro told him. His brother had been on the last mission with him and was just hearing all this himself. "Manami gets nervous when she's the center of attention."

Gaara nodded and went in search of her. He found her in the greenhouse and saw the signs of stress. Manami was digging into the pot with a vengeance as if taking out her worries on the dirt. There was a faint tremor in her body as she moved. Dirt coated her like a second set of clothes. There was even a smudge on her face.

"Manami?"

She turned and smiled with obvious relief. Forgetting about the dirt, Manami hugged him. Gaara sighed and shook his head at her. Now he knew she'd been worrying too much because she'd never have hugged him coated with dirt otherwise.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her.

"Working. It keeps me from thinking too much." She saw people looking at her through the glass walls and winced. "Usually."

"Is that the only reason? I thought you were afraid to work with the plants after your dream."

"I was and still am. I have no idea what I can do with this chakra that can supposedly grow plants. Then again, Kabuto and the Monster might have just been insane." Manami reached out and touched a leaf on the nearest plant. Her eyes seemed to take on a dreamy quality. "But you're right. They don't just soothe my nerves. Working with plants makes me feel...alive."

Gaara blinked in surprise. For all her nerves and fear, Manami always lived in the moment. Perhaps because she didn't have a past to burden the present for her. For this girl, ever second was full of smiles and fears and anything else that she could stuff into it. Why would she need anything to make her feel alive?

"I don't have a past, Gaara. What little I do know of it, says that I was alone. The only person who'd ever loved me was my mother and she died before I turned eight. I'm not even sure what killed her. All I know is that there's no one who cares about me. No one who needs me. My life is almost unnecessary." Manami looked up at him, her fingers still gently holding that plant's leaf. "But these plants give me a purpose I guess because they need me to grow here." She smiled a little sheepishly. "Sounds silly, doesn't it?"

"No," he answered. It was true. He didn't think it was silly. Hadn't he killed because he needed a reason to live? Didn't Naruto work for his dream to have a reason to exist? Even Sasuke went through effort to have a purpose for living. "Everyone needs that." There was something else but he couldn't say it. He couldn't tell her that the plants weren't the only ones that needed her. Even more than a year, he still didn't open up easily to anyone.

Manami gave him a grateful smile then remembered something. "Happy birthday by the way. You're fourteen now right?"

Gaara nodded and felt oddly pleased that she'd remembered his birthday. She surprised him by handing him a present - his first present. It was a picture of him, his siblings, and Manami together. He smiled softly and whispered, "Thank you."

She smiled brilliantly. "It was nothing." Curiously, she asked, "Have you heard from Konoha lately? Surely Naruto would have sent a message wishing you happy birthday."

"You haven't heard?" he asked in surprise.

"I haven't heard anything because I've been hiding in here from everyone staring at me. They seemed to think it's important that the medical core wants to pay me for working in here." Manami looked around the greenhouse then back at him. "It doesn't help that they think I have you under some sort of spell and that's why you've changed."

He shook his head at the idiocy of that idea. "Naruto has left Konoha last month to train with one of the Sannin Jiraya. He's been gone for nearly half a year now."

"And Sasuke?"

"Kakashi took him shortly before that to train." Gaara anticipated her next question and said, "Sakura is still in Konoha training with Lady Tsunade to be a medic."

"Oh. Well, at least Sasuke didn't join the Monster."

"He kept his promise to you and his team." Gaara motioned for her to follow him and they left the greenhouse. "From what I heard, Sasuke's older brother attacked Konoha and attempted to kidnap Naruto. Everyone's fine," he told her before she could ask. "Sasuke was pretty messed up after that attack and when the offer from Orochimaru came, he nearly took it. I think Naruto and Sakura intervened."

"So everything is okay." Manami smiled in relief. She'd been worried that Sasuke would change his mind and was glad to hear he hadn't. "I hope he learns a lot during his training so he won't regret it."

"He won't, even if he doesn't learn a lot." Gaara looked up at the sky. "His team will make sure of that."

The two were walking down the street towards their house when someone called out Gaara's name. They turned to see Baki walking up to them. The jonin stopped just in front of them and said, "The council wishes to speak with you. And yes, Manami, you can come."

Curiously, the two followed Baki to the council room. The council was already gathered together and waiting. Manami saw that Kankuro and Temari were in there as well. Curious, she tilted her head at them. Both shrugged to show that they had no idea what was going on either. Manami looked up at the council again. They seemed so intimidating. She sidled so that she was behind Gaara and peeked around him. There was tension in the air as everyone waited on the council to speak. Finally, one of them stood.

"Sabaku no Gaara, as you know, we are in need of a new Kazekage. There are decisions that can't be made without one and we've already pushed it by waiting a year to select your father's replacement."

The councilman paused to examine Gaara's reaction. So far, the jinchuriki was merely listening with emotionless eyes. Only Manami, standing nearly pressed to his back, could sense the tension vibrating through Gaara as he waited.

The councilman continued. "It has come to our attention that only one person in our village is qualified to be Kazekage and that is you. So, Sabaku no Gaara, will you become the Fifth Kazekage of Sunagakure?"

Gaara felt something in him snap into place at the offer. Finally, he'd proven to himself that he'd changed. He would no longer be Suna's Monster but it's protector. Gaara felt something take his hand a squeeze. Manami telling him to speak already because everyone was waiting. He squeezed her hand in return and said, "I accept."

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That's it for now. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll get to work on the next one asap. Until next time.


	12. Kidnapped

All done. By the way, I skipped a year because there wasn't much going to happen during that time. Just to make sure you guys know that.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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Ch. 12: Kidnapped  
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"I wonder how old I am now?" Manami asked the plant she was tending in the greenhouse. She'd been made an official worker shortly after Gaara became Kazekage much to the medic's joy. She had a talent for working with the plants. Though no amount of talent could make them speak so the plant didn't answer her question. She didn't really expect it to. She was only mildly curious because they had just recently celebrated Gaara's fifteenth birthday and the one year anniversary of him becoming Kazekage.

That first year had been difficult because the villagers were still somewhat nervous about Gaara. After a while many of them began to relax. Gaara was even developing a bit of a fanclub among the females. Well, female shinobi. Most of the civilians were still unsure of their new Kazekage.

Not long after Gaara's promotion, the civilians began coming to her with their problems, and they always asked her to tell Gaara. She'd tried to tell them that they could talk to Gaara themselves, but they weren't listening. So Manami became a messenger between the civilians and the Kazekage. Not that she minded helping out. It was just, they'd never get used to Gaara if they kept going through her first. Then again, she could be wrong. Some civilians had begun greeting Gaara as he walked down the street. Probably because they noticed that their complaints were dealt with one way or another.

She smiled a little. Gaara cared about all of Suna's people whether they were civilian or shinobi. "Well, they're figuring it out," she told the plant. Her eyes turned thoughtful as she brushed a pendant that hung from her neck. It was smooth sand stone Gaara made himself. He'd gotten tired of her carrying that wolf all over the place so he substituted it for something smaller she could wear then told her to think of it a birthday present. "A birthday present when I don't even know when my birthday is. Gaara turned fifteen yesterday and is the youngest Kazekage in history. It makes me wonder, how old am I and does my age really matter?"

"Manami?"

She turned and saw Gaara walk into the greenhouse. "Hello, Gaara. What brings you here?"

"Lunch."

"Oh." She looked up at the clock. Sure enough it was noon. "Right. I guess I lost track of the time."

Gaara just shook his head. The two of them left together to get food. A chill worked up Manami's spine. If felt like someone was watching her again. She glanced over her shoulder but didn't see anyone. The feeling had been coming since the chunin exams two years ago and it just wouldn't go away. At first, she thought she was just being paranoid but now she wondered if maybe someone really was watching her. Surely she wouldn't imagine that feeling for two years. Would she? She was the paranoid type after all.

"Manami?"

"It's nothing, Gaara," she told him with a smile. "So what are we having for lunch?"

But the feeling was still their an hour later when she was back in the greenhouse. Finally, she decided she had to talk with Gaara bout it. The entire thing was getting ridiculous. She walked into the Kage's office to find Kankuro there. He grinned. "Sorry, Gaara's in a meeting with the council."

She sighed. "Can you tell him I need to talk to him?"

Kankuro nodded and opened his mouth to see if Manami would tell him what was wrong when someone interrupted. A haughty voice said, "Why would you want to bother the Kazekage with your problems? You know he's a very busy man."

Manami spun around because the woman had snuck up on her. She backed up when she realized she had no clue who this woman was. The woman looked like perfection with blue eyes, blond hair, and curves in all the right places. On her forehead was the headband of a sand shinobi.

"Ah, hey, Ami," Kankuro greeted the blond with some annoyance. He didn't like her and she wasn't doing anything to improve his opinion.

Manami said nothing, just kept stepping back as panic gripped her. This girl was a stranger. She hadn't been prepared and therefore hadn't had the chance to brace herself against the fear. Her words were frozen in her throat. Sweat trickled down her spine and she trembled. She couldn't think past the terror. All she could do was beg for Gaara to come so she wouldn't be afraid anymore.

Ami humphed. "I can't believe this trembling scardy cat is living with our Kazekage. Seems to me that she nothing but a nuisance."

Manami winced. It wasn't like she hadn't thought that very same thing over the years she'd known Gaara. In nearly three years, she couldn't think of a single thing that she'd done to help Gaara. Most of them time, she was just a burden to him. The girl he had to protect because she had no one else and was in fact afraid of everyone else.

"You should just leave," Ami told Manami without mercy. "You only get in his way. I bet he wants you gone. If it wasn't for you, the civilians would trust him already because they wouldn't be going to you."

"That's enough, Ami," Kankuro snapped out but it was too late. He knew that the moment he saw Manami's face.

Her eyes were wide and there was pain mixed in with the fear. She looked down and simply said, "Excuse me, Ami. I'm going home now."

She ran out careful to avoid touching the kunoichi. Kankuro glared at Ami and growled, "Did you have to do that?"

Ami flipped her hair over a shoulder. "I only told her the truth. She should have been strong enough to handle it."

"She's not a shinobi, Ami." Kankuro's eyes narrowed. "Gaara won't thank you for this."

Kankuro rushed past her to find Manami. Gaara would be beyond pissed if anything happened to that civilian. But Manami had vanished. He didn't find her at Gaara's house or in the greenhouse, which were the only two places that girl ever went without Gaara. Just to be sure, he looked everywhere in Suna then double checked Gaara's and the greenhouse. This was bad. This was worse than bad. Gaara was going to tear someone apart for this. Kankuro turned and rushed back to the council building that held the Kage's and councilman's offices. Without pausing he opened the doors to the meeting room where Gaara was in the middle of a meeting.

Everyone in the room looked at him. The eldest of the councilmen said, "Kankuro, you know better than to interrupt a meeting."

"Forgive me," Kankuro said with a small quick bow. Personally, he hated having to be polite and usually didn't bother. However, this time he didn't want to spend an hour arguing with them about his manners. "But this is important." His eyes focused on Gaara. "I can't find Manami. She came looking for you and was scared by a stranger. She ran off, and when I went after her, she was gone."

Gaara stood immediately and walked towards the door without a word. No one dared stop him. He had that look in his eyes that told them he would kill the first person who tried to get in his way. The council had begun to think that look was gone for good. Kankuro fell into step behind him.

"Kankuro, tell Temari," Gaara ordered.

"Of course. What do you want us to do?"

The Kazekage closed his eyes and felt the tug on his senses. Manami was being taken north. He smirked. Whoever took her didn't know about the necklace or it's purpose. Not only did it tell Manami that he was alive, but it told him where she was. "Gather the shinobi and send a message to Konoha, just in case. We're going to catch up to them and when I get my hands on whoever took her."

"How do you know someone took her, Gaara? She did get scared." the puppet master asked cautiously.

"Manami wouldn't just leave," Gaara snapped out. She wouldn't do that to him because she knew it would bother him. The last thing Manami would ever do was hurt him in any way. That much, he never doubted.

Kankuro heard the barely contained rage in Gaara's voice and said, "We'll find her, Gaara."

Gaara paused long enough to meet his brother's eyes. There was a fierce determination in Gaara's usually calm eyes. "Yes, I'll find her, even if I have to tear the desert apart." With that, the Kazekage vanished in a whirl of sand.

"Uh oh," Kankuro mumbled. "I knew he'd react like this. Better hurry and find Manami. I hope no one's hurt her, for their sake."

_-With Manami-_

Manami wasn't sure what was going on. One moment she was racing up to the cliff that over looked Suna, the next she was waking up in a strange place. At least, the thought it was a strange place. It was hard to tell because everything was dark. For a moment she thought her eyes were closed. She blinked and saw that it wasn't that. There just wasn't any lights in the room. She sat up. No lights and no windows. Was she dreaming again? No, she wasn't a child like in her dreams.

Her skin clammed up and she started to shake. This wasn't a dream. She was back in the room without lights. The Monster must have her. No. Manami stood up and screamed. She pressed her back against the wall and screamed again. This couldn't be happening. She wanted Gaara.

"Quiet down already."

Manami's eyes jerked up to see that someone had opened the door. It was Kabuto. Another scream tried to escape her throat but her voice wasn't working. Her fear was so strong she couldn't even whimper. All she could do was press herself against the wall and stare at him.

"Lord Orochimaru has been very worried since your escape. You caused us quite a bit of trouble, Suzuki. It was a stroke of luck we saw you at the chunin exams with the sand shinobi." He shook his head a bit ruefully. "Even knowing where you were, we still had to wait two years for Gaara to lower his guard and leave you open."

She blinked. Suzuki? Who was that?

"Now don't think we'll make the same mistake twice and let you out of the chakra controlled zones," Kabuto continued. "You'll only be able to use your chakra when we allow it. And don't think the Sand Shinobi can find you. They can't. We've made sure of that."

Her eyes widened as she realized they didn't know that she had lost her memories. So Suzuki was her real name. The one her mother gave her. The tilted her head. Somehow, she liked Manami better. Was that because Gaara had given it to her? What was she thinking about all this for? She needed to be focused on the situation at hand. Which was she'd been kidnapped and had no idea how to get away. Well she'd done it once, though she had no idea how. Surely she could do it again.

Suddenly Kabuto was standing inches away from her. She stiffened. He smirked and said, "You'll be a good girl and stay where we put you this time, won't you, Suzuki?"

"No. I won't," she managed. It was hard, but she'd kept the tremor out of her voice. She'd even managed to sound somewhat defiant.

He sighed. "That's too bad. Orochimaru was so pleased when he found out you had the First's abilities."

Manami bit her tongue. As much as she wanted to question him, she couldn't risk it. If she asked a question she was already supposed to know the answer to he'd know she didn't have a clue what he was talking about. She just had to bide her time until Gaara found her. No matter what Kabuto said, Gaara would find her. She had to believe that.

"How..." Her throat was dry so she swallowed and tried again, "How long have I been here?"

"Five hours give or take." Kabuto walked back towards the door. "Don't try to escape, Suzuki. This room is specially designed to keep your chakra from working."

She only managed to glare once he'd left the room. Manami sat on the bed and prepared to wait. Gaara would find her. She'd just have to stay alive until then. It felt like forever passed. She learned that she could hear through the door so she'd moved to sit next to it. Someone walked by talking about Orchimaru. It seems the snake wasn't here and Kabuto had left. She hoped they didn't come back any time soon. Gaara would need time to get here and she would rather he didn't have to go through the Monster.

"I wonder what time it is," she said to herself. "Probably only been an hour but it feels like I've been in here for forever. Can't they at least give me a candle? It's really dark in here."

Manami stretched and yawned. So sleepy. Her eyes trailed to where the bed was. She couldn't see it in the shadows but knew it was there anyway. Part of her didn't want to even think about leaving this door. Another part knew she had to sleep. With resignation and another yawn, Manami climbed onto the bed and fell into sleep where a dream hit her instantly.

_This was her chance. Momma had made her make one promise before the Monster took her away forever. That promise was that one day she would escape. Now they were taking her out of the enclosed garden for the first time. The Monster and the Boy were so sure of her obedience that they hadn't placed the jutsu that wouldn't allow her to use her chakra without permission. They didn't know that her mother had made her promise or that she would keep that promise. Despite the fear she would get away. _

_They opened the gate and led her out of the area with the jutsu in place. She felt her chakra respond to her instantly and smiled. Not yet though. She waited still until she was closer to the trees of the surrounding forest. Her steps slowed so that the Boy and the Monster would be ahead of her. By the time they realized what she was doing, it was too late. She'd already ran. Her heart was racing and she could hear them behind her. She used the skill they'd taught her to have the very plants slow them down. She put large trees wooden blocks in their paths. Still the Monster almost caught her. She'd fallen down and he nearly had her. She scrambled to her feet and pressed herself against a tree. A scream erupted from her. At the same time, she sank into the tree and her world went black._

Manami jerked awake and stared into the dark. So that's what happened. She'd sank into a tree. But then, how did she end up in the desert? Maybe there would always be questions without answers regarding her past. But at least now she knew how she'd gotten away. Could she still use that power? She didn't know. All she knew was she couldn't while in this room. Which meant she couldn't escape herself.

"I'll just have to wait on Gaara," she reminded herself. "He'll come."

Just as she said that, the ground shook so hard she fell out of the bed and cracks formed in the walls. This was not good.

* * *

That's it for now. I'll get the next chapter up asap.


	13. Realization

Got this one up finally.

Disclaimer: not saying it. look at the other chapters if you must have one.

**

* * *

Ch. 13: Realization**

Manami scrambled to her feet only to fall again when the ground shook a second time. What in the world was going on out there? She looked at the cracks sneaking their way up the walls. If this kept up, she'd be buried alive. She ran to the door and beat on it while begging someone to open it, but it was useless. All she heard through the door was the sound of running and screaming. No one would hear her over that.

"Oh, I wish I knew what was happening," she said as she looked at the cracks again.

It was so dark she couldn't tell how bad the damage was. She tried to run her hands over the walls and that only scared her more. Not one inch of the wall was still unscathed. Then the ground shook again. Now this was getting ridiculous. How many earthquakes could there be in one day? Actually, she had no idea. Maybe this was normal. She actually heard a stone fall and hit the ground. Normal or not, if it didn't stop she'd be crushed by rubble. The walls couldn't take much more.

Just as she thought that, the ground shook again and she heard the sound of breaking stone above her. Manami screamed. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain...and waited...and waited. Finally, she risked cracking an eye open. Both her eyes shot open in surprise. A dome of sand was shielding her. How had that gotten there? Could it be...Gaara? Manami got to her feet shakily and stumbled to the wall of the dome. When she placed her hand against the sand, it felt warm and comforting. That was the first time she noticed the stone Gaara had given her was unusually warm. It had to be him.

"Gaara!" she shouted and pounded on the sand wall. "Gaara!"

The ground shook again. What in the world was he doing? Demolishing everything? The sand dome melted away and she could only stare. It wasn't Gaara shaking the ground. Marching around the compound was a large beast that looked like it was made of sand. Something about it seemed even more terrifying than the Monster she'd feared since childhood. At the same time, she wasn't really afraid. That didn't really make sense to her. She should be afraid. The fact that this creature was destroying everything in sight told her that much. Still, she felt oddly relieved to see that strange creature.

Manami started to walk towards it, but someone grabbed her. She screamed on impulse and the stone on her neck burned. The sand that had formed a dome immediately went on the attack. Whoever was behind her cursed and that's when she recognized the voice.

"Kankuro?" she turned and the sand fell back to the ground. Kankuro was standing just behind her wiping away blood from his face. The sand had scratched him before falling away. Thank goodness that's all that had happened. She grabbed his shirt and demanded, "What are you doing here? What's going on? Where's Gaara?"

Once she'd finally quit shaking him, he pointed at the creature. "Uhhh, Gaara's right there. That's the Sand Spirit that lives in him."

She glanced over her shoulder at it. "Why is it out?"

"Well, when we got here Gaara's anger just kind of exploded. Do you realize this is a lab?" Kankuro asked her. "That whoever brought you here was going to use you as a lab rat?"

"No. The room they kept me in didn't have windows or lights. I have no idea where I am." Manami looked over at the beast called Shukaku. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"No. He's come out of it when he calms down. For now, the best thing we can do is stay out of his way." Kankuro took her hand. "Come on. The others are waiting over there far away from Shukaku."

"But Gaara will be upset if he kills people while like that, won't he?" she asked, still refusing to move.

"There's nothing we can do, Manami. Shukaku isn't Gaara. He doesn't think the same way or care about the same things." Kankuro tried to tug her away again. He had to get her to safety. Nothing would upset Gaara more than hurting her even accidentally.

Manami still wouldn't budge. She kept thinking that the sand was protecting her like it did for Gaara. The Kazekage had once told her that it was Shukaku's way of protecting himself, so why did it shield her? She knew the answer providing she was right about one thing. "Kankuro, the sand is controlled by Shukaku's power isn't it?" After he nodded she said, "Then I'll be fine. Shukaku's power is protecting me too."

She jerked free and ran towards Gaara. He'd worked so hard to change from a monster into the Kazekage. She couldn't let his ruin that in a moment of anger, especially if it was her fault. That was just not going to happen. She slid to a stop just in front of the huge beast. He looked down at her with golden eyes that weren't – but at the same time they were – Gaara's. She prayed that she was right about this. The sand protecting her meant something, and she hoped it was that this creature wouldn't kill her.

Shukaku seemed to smirk. "So you're safe after all. And he was worried I'd crush you. The boy has no faith."

Now what was she supposed to say to that? She wasn't even sure what this creature thought of the world. Gaara once told her that Shukaku was a monster, but he wasn't killing her right now. Was that because of Gaara or because he didn't want to kill her?

"Are you going to give Gaara back now?"

He looked around and sighed with regret when he was that everything was destroyed. The boy was also fighting to regain control now that it was obvious the girl wasn't hurt. Looks like there was no other choice. "Fine. Too bad. The fun was just getting started."

The sand began to melt away and she saw a body falling to the ground. Manami took an instinctive step forward. It was Gaara. Kankuro and Temari jumped up and caught him. She raced forward, praying he wasn't hurt. Gaara looked over at her when she reached them and the relief in his eyes was almost tangible. Then he passed out.

"Is he okay?" she demanded.

"He's just tired," Temari told her. "Kankuro, you get him back to the village. I'll say here to lead the rest of the mission here."

"What's left?" Kankuro asked her. "We came to get Manami and we have her."

"There' might be information here about why she was here in the first place," Temari pointed out. "We'll search the rubble for a clue. You'll take Gaara and Manami back to Suna."

Manami looked around the place that had been her prison for most of her life. Even now it was a prison because her dreams haunted her. Would she ever escape the dark cell with only a bed? Would she ever stop feeling pain because the mother she'd never knew had been taken from her? Would she always be afraid of everything because of this place? She hoped not. That would mean that she'd lost some important battle because he still had control, giving the Monster a victory.

She heard Kankuro move and looked over. He'd held one of Gaara's arms over his shoulder and began moving. Quickly she ran after him. Hours later, they were in Suna. The medics took Gaara and Manami away. All she had was a bump on the head and a few bruises from behind knocked around during Shukaku's little tantrum. She was allowed to stay in Gaara's room while he slept. Manami was so tired that she just crawled onto the bed with him and slept.

Gaara woke to see her face next to his, and her turquoise eyes were watching him. Manami smiled at him as she sat up. "You're awake."

He nodded and shifted to look around. He was in the hospital. That explained why he was in a bed. Memories began to return and he jerked up. Had he hurt anyone? Manami shoved him back down gently. It was a testament to how tired he still was when he couldn't even put up a token resistance.

"Relax," she ordered him with a smile. Manami was standing next to the bed now. "Everyone's okay. They're searching the rubble for any clues about my past."

Gaara looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. He stood up, despite her protests, and pulled her to him. Manami was so shocked that he was hugging her that her words died in her throat. Then she noticed that he was trembling. Her eyes softened as she realized just how scared he'd been. She wrapped her arms around him and just stood there for a moment.

"Don't ever scare me like that again," he ordered into her ear.

She could only nod her agreement.

"Sorry to interrupt," Kankuro said from the doorway, "but Temari is back and she found something interesting."

Gaara released Manami reluctantly and looked at his brother. "What is it? Did you find out what Orochimaru wanted with her?"

"No, but we did find out that Manami's mother isn't dead."

Manami froze. "What?"

"We found papers that indicate that she was sent away. To be sure she couldn't tell anyone where the base was, Orochimaru simply blindfolded her." Kankuro held up a file. "There are other papers in here but nothing to indicate what it was Orochimaru wanted from Manami. By the way, did you know that your real name is Suzuki?"

She nodded. "The Boy...I mean Kabuto called me that. I don't think they realized that I'd lost my memories."

Gaara was watching her face now. Manami seemed confused by something and he wasn't sure what it was. It started to worry him so he asked her. She said, "I don't know how I'm supposed to feel. My mother is out there somewhere but I don't even know what she looks like. What should I feel? Shouldn't I feel something?"

"I don't know," Gaara admitted. It wasn't like he had much experience with mothers. He'd never known his after all. In some ways he was sad about that but he couldn't miss a woman he'd never known. Manami was probably in the same position because she couldn't really remember her mother. "Probably not."

"I thought she was dead. The me in the dreams – I guess her name is Suzuki – thought our mother was dead," Manami said more to herself than to Gaara and Kankuro.

"Aren't you the same people?" Kankuro asked.

"I don't know," Manami replied honestly. "I don't know who Suzuki is. I just know she was once me. Does that mean that Manami and Suzuki are the same?"

"Can't tell you," Kankuro admitted as he scratched his head. Just thinking about it gave him a headache. "To tell you the truth, this whole thing seems kinda complicated to me."

"Do you want to try and find your mother?" Gaara asked her.

"How? I don't know her name, what she looks like, how old she is." Manami looked out the window. "I don't even know what our last name was."

"It begins with an S," Temari's voice told them from behind Kankuro. The wind mistress shoved her brother out of the doorway and came into the room. "I found more papers but they're about your mother. Her name is Asuka. The last name is practically unreadable. All I could get was that it began with an S. Oh, and she was from Konoha."

"So I'm from the Land of Fire?" Manami asked curiously.

"No. You were born after Orochimaru had your mother. I'm not sure of all the details. Like I said, a lot of the ink is faded or smudged because of age or what Shukaku did." Temari glanced at Gaara then continued. "From what I do know, Orochimaru took your grandmother and then began testing for whatever it was he was looking for."

"The plant chakra thing," Manami supplied. "That's why he had me work in the gardens. The Monster wanted me to learn to control the power."

"Well, whatever it was, that's what he was looking for. When your grandmother didn't have it, he..." Temari hesitated. She hated how cruel and crude this next part was but there was no helping it. "He bred her so to speak."

The others stared at her.

"You mean, she was nothing but a baby maker to him?" Kankuro asked. He just wanted to be sure he was hearing this right. In all his years as a shinobi, he'd never heard of someone using other people like this. This Orochimaru was really evil if other humans were nothing more than a experiments.

"Once he found out she didn't possess the chakra abilities he was looking for, yes," Temari said with a nod. "There's no mention of a father. All I know is that she was impregnated while in captivity. I'm presuming he was looking for a kekkei genkai so he needed her to keep producing people form her bloodline, so the father's bloodline didn't really matter."

"What about my mother?" Manami asked curiously.

"Same thing I guess. She didn't have the kekkei genkai he was looking for, so she had to produce a child to continue the bloodline."

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "He would have made Manami produce a child eventually."

Temari nodded. "I presume so. It makes sense."

"Did you find a file for Manami other than these few papers?" Kankuro asked as he waved the file in his hand.

Temari shook her head. "Sorry. That's all I found."

"So I was a lab rat," Manami said quietly. "An experiment to produce a special ability that only my family can have."

Gaara growled at just the thought of that. How dare that snake use his Manami like that. If he ever got his hands on Orochimaru, the sannin would wish he'd never even heard of Manami. He sighed and looked at Temari. "Send this information to Lady Tsunade. Since Manami's grandmother was originally from there, maybe they know what kekkei genkai Manami's family has."

Temari nodded and left to do just that. Kankuro left to help her with that. Mostly the puppeteer just knew Manami and Gaara needed some time.

There was silence in the room for a few moments before Gaara asked, "Do you want to use your birth name?"

She looked at him and shook her head. "No, Suzuki just doesn't feel right." Manami smiled brilliantly at him. "Besides, I have a special attachment to Manami since you gave it to me."

Gaara felt his heart skip a beat whens he smiled at him. How did she make him feel this way? Every time she smiled at him he felt as if he'd done something wonderful and wanted to smile with her. Not only that but he knew he wanted her much less innocent ways. He closed his eyes and shoved that thought away. Another unwelcome thought replaced it quickly enough when he wondered if he loved her. That was a scary thought because he didn't know what to do about it if he did.

"What is it, Gaara?" she asked him curiously.

"I want..." He trailed off. No way could he tell her. She had even less experience with these things than he did. "Nothing. Let's go home."

Home. Manami had never heard anything that sounded more wonderful. She smiled at him again and said, "Okay."

Gaara turned quickly so that he couldn't see that smile. He couldn't love her. As if to make a liar out of him, the memory of how he'd lost control when they'd found the lab Orochimaru kept her in filled his mind. Then he remembered that his sand protected her even if he didn't tell it to. Damn it, he cursed himself. There was no denying it anymore. He was in love with Manami.

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All done. Let me know what you think. I'll get the next chapter up asap.


	14. Author's Note

**Author's Note**

I'm sorry to saythat I'm having a serious block with this story so I think I'm going to start from scratch and see if I can get around it. If anyone would really rather I wait longer to see if I can work through the block, now is the time to say so. The plot will be the same, and so will the oc but I can't promise that anything else will be the same. If i get enough people who would rather wait out the block, I will but I don't know how long it will be until I can update.


	15. Author's Note 2

**Author's Note**

It's official. I have to give up on this version of the story. I am working on a rewrite of sorts. Hopefully this won't upset anyone too much, because I still can't work on this and it's been months. I will, after I finish Vision of the Future, delete this story and post the other one. The new one will have the same name as this and the basic plot will be the same. I do change the OC's name and appearance, but that's it really. I am so sorry to all of you who liked this version of the story.


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